To Wives and Sweethearts
by Bean02
Summary: Tom Pullings spots a rather mysterious woman floating in the water one night. Will he make a fool of himself and ruin the Captain's uniform? Or will he learn the secret she is hiding? Read and find out mwahaha!
1. Chapter One

A/N: I always ramble before I start the story, deal with it. This story was written on a dare. I was sitting at my computer looking at pictures from the movie and someone who shall remain nameless made the comment Tom Pullings is hot. Well, he is rather hot I'll admit (at gun point.... which I am being held at for the moment! HELP!!) and the fact that his name is Pullings amused me (and the rest of the girls in my dorm, and the Captain, and pretty much anyone who knows me), and so I joked about writing a random, highly unlikely, Pullings romance. I don't know why everything I end up posting is always romance.... Anyway.... This story is so very, VERY unlikely, and mysterious. There are also random parts I've been told are amusing. I do hope they amuse you too (  
  
Rating: PG-13 for language only really. Haha my character's have a potty mouth.  
  
Chapter One  
  
Olivia Corin slid across the small ledge, looking for her next handhold on the side of the cliff. The afternoon sun was just beginning to warm up, warming her back as her face pressed against cool, damp, rock. Her friends in the camp below where just beginning to make breakfast, which amused Olivia as she had been climbing for at least an hour already. She knew she would never convince the others to come up with her. She had a hard enough time getting them to go camping. The friends she was with this weekend were far less adventurous than Olivia. They all seemed to believe that a cheap Holiday Inn was camping, but they had agreed to come if she would drive them on a road trip to New York next semester. It was a fair enough deal, and she wanted the chance to climb, so she agreed. Olivia loved to climb. When she was little she would often hide up in the trees back home. Her Grandmother, a rather formidable Hungarian woman who could frighten grown men, had told her she would climb anything if it would sit still long enough as a child and wished they had stamped this hobby out when she was young. When she was ten her father had taken her to an indoor rock wall, and she was hooked. Ever since then she had perfected her skills so she was quite secure hanging far above the ground off a cliff. At school her friends teased her constantly, being the only vocal major and girl in the outdoors club at her University, but she loved it. Olivia was a lot tougher than she looked.  
  
She was rather delicate looking, annoyingly fair skin that would burn if she didn't coat it in sunblock, long blonde hair that at the moment was piled on her head in a messy bun, and large green eyes that gave her an almost surprised expression. Her friends, after seeing Lord of the Rings, teased her by asking if she played an elf, which would gain them a swift kick in the butt. She could not stand being viewed as a girly girl, and as a child drove her mother and grandmother insane with her refusal to act like the perfect, proper, little girl. She remembered word for word the lecture from her grandmother about being a "proper young lady so she could marry a fine Hungarian, or Hungarian-American man." This lecture of course would be in Hungarian, as her grandmother was determined that her grandchildren should emerge themselves in the "Mother Country". Olivia also hated it when she felt people were underestimating her, and hated it even more when people fussed over her. She'd had her fair share of injuries to be sure, years of climbing up cliffs, playing sports, and general recklessness had left her with a fair share of trips to the hospital and broken bones, but she always bounced back as tough as ever.  
  
Her walkie-talkie attached to her belt crackled to life and making sure she had a firm hold on the cliff, she reached down with one hand to unhook it. "Livie, where are you?" One of her friends below asked. It was Casey, her current roommate.  
  
"Look up." Livie replied with a grin, knowing Casey was afraid of heights and thought the rest of the world should be as well.  
  
She obviously did and saw Olivia hanging onto a cliff high above the ground. "Jesus! Livie, be careful up there!"  
  
Olivia laughed, "I'll be fine Casey. Be back down in a few hours." She replied, putting the walkie-talkie back on her belt, and continuing her climb.  
After a few hours, however, Olivia was getting tired. The climb was harder than she predicted, and she was having difficulty. She was also getting hot, but was almost to the top. All her safety training about having a buddy and not climbing alone was ringing in her ears at the moment, as she reached for the next hold. Her fingers slipped on the rock and she made a wild grab, it was a good thing she found secure rocks for her hands because at that moment her foot slipped. Panic filled her mind and she kicked, but training took over and she made what she thought was a secure hold.  
  
"That was close." She muttered under her breath, laughing a bit. She did not notice until too late that the rock was giving way. Suddenly, with an awful noise it slid, making her lose her grip. She tittered for a moment, arms swinging out, attempting to grab something as gravity pushed her backwards. This time she didn't win, and she lost contact with the secure rocky cliff and felt herself falling backwards. Terror filled her mind as she fell and she braced herself for the hard impact of the ground, hoping it would not kill her.  
  
With a splash she hit the water. Salt stung her eyes and she kicked towards the surface as instinct took over, removing her heavy belt of equipment as she went to speed up her ascent. Suddenly she remembered that there was no water near their campsite. Especially salt water. She shook the thoughts out of her head. Get to the surface that was her goal. She made it with a gasp for air and blinked several times, clearing her vision as she treaded water.  
  
"What the Hell?" She cried out in shock. There was no land in sight, nothing but ocean for miles and miles, and not even a sign of a cliff. Confused, her mind filled with possibilities. Was she dead? No, she didn't think so. Her foot hurt from where she must have twisted it when she slipped, and her body stung from the impact of the water. Not to mention she was cold. Her mind immediately went to the question of what one should do when stranded in the middle of the ocean. Having grown up in the mountains that had not exactly been on her list of worries. Luckily, she did at least know how to swim. She decided to flip over on her back and float until she came across something she could hold onto. Hopefully, someone would come across her, or she would see land. She couldn't be that far out, could she? "Olivia, you've gotten yourself into a real pickle." She muttered to herself. Still terribly confused, she closed her eyes, allowing her body to relax to the gentle rising of the waves.

* * *

Lt. Tom Pullings was on watch abroad the HMS Surprise. It was a night watch, and a rather dull night at that. The waters were calm, the weather was good, and it was a very clear night. He looked out over the water, pacing the quarterdeck. It was a cool night, and he watched as his breath formed clouds in the air, looking out over the dark water. Suddenly, a flash of white caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes, straining to see what it was, putting the glass to his eye to get a better look. He froze, blinking in surprise, a man in the water, and they were going to right by him.  
  
Tom sprung into action quickly. "Man overboard!" He called. The half awake crew looked up, and then also rushed to look out into the water, and then quickly at Mr. Pullings's orders, set to rescuing him. He appeared to be alive, barely moving, but alive. The men worked to pull the man up on deck. They all crowded around, surprised and curious to see whom it was. One of the rescuers stood and shouted to Tom. "A woman sir!"  
  
"A woman?" Tom's eyes widened in surprise and he looked down at the shivering woman on the deck, she was most certainly a woman there were no doubts there. "Send for Doctor Maturin! And wake the Captain!" He ordered. She looked half alive, but scared out of her mind. Clearly, she was not a native woman, with blonde hair, pale skin, and large green eyes. She was dressed in short trousers and a green shirt with no sleeves that fit her form. It was a little too fitting in Tom's opinion and he imagined the crew had no protest to this. Tom knelt by her side, taking off his overcoat and wrapping it around the shivering woman. "Are you all right Miss?" He asked kindly.  
  
She looked at him, her green eyes wider than he thought possible. "W- Where?" She stuttered, her teeth chattering with cold.  
  
"You are on the HMS Surprise miss." He told her gently. "Do not worry, you shall come to no harm here." He assured her. "What is your name?"  
  
She was still shaking uncontrollably. "Olivia." She replied.  
  
Doctor Maturin appeared at that moment, pushing through the men crowded around the woman. When he saw her his eyes widened and he looked to Tom questioningly. "Where did she come from?" He asked, kneeling beside her to examine the poor shivering creature.  
  
"We pulled her out of the water Doctor, there's no ship in sight." Tom replied. "Will she be all right?" He asked, truly concerned.  
  
The Doctor nodded. "She's very cold, but I imagine once she warms up a bit she will be fine." He commented. He then turned to Olivia. "I'm Stephen Maturin, Miss. I'm a doctor. How do you feel?"  
  
"Cold." She stuttered through blue lips.  
  
He smiled kindly, "Well I imagine so." He replied.  
  
"Mr. Pullings! What is going on?" Captain Aubrey called out as the men moved aside to let him through. He stopped short when he saw the woman lying on his deck. Jack looked at his first lieutenant with surprise. "Mr. Pullings, why is there a wet and frozen woman on my deck?"  
  
Tom felt all eyes on him at that moment, and noticed that several others had come up on deck, awoken by the noise. "We pulled her out of the water sir."  
  
"Were there others?" The Captain asked.  
  
"No sir."  
  
"A ship?"  
  
"No sir." Tom replied, shaking his head. "Just this woman."  
  
Captain Aubrey stared at him for a moment before kneeling beside the woman. "I'm Captain Jack Aubrey, Miss. Can you tell me how you got here?"  
  
"I- I- don't- know." She replied through shivering lips. "Climbing- fell- cold." She stuttered.  
  
Dr. Maturin shook his head and turned to the Captain. "Jack, right now she ought to warm up a bit. She's nearly frozen. I am sure once she rests a bit she will be more than happy to answer your questions."  
  
The Captain nodded. "All right lads!" He shouted to the crew. "Back to work. We have all seen women before."  
  
The crew, mumbling among themselves went back to work, leaving Dr. Maturin, the Captain, and Lt. Pullings with the woman.  
  
"Can you walk Miss?" Dr. Maturin asked kindly.  
  
Olivia nodded, and he helped her to her feet. However, he legs quickly gave out and fainted. Dr. Maturin luckily was supporting her and caught her, picking her up.  
  
"Bring me extra blankets." Dr. Maturin instructed Padeen, carrying the woman. She looked very small and helpless at that moment.  
  
"Is she-?" Pullings called after him.  
  
"She'll be fine Mr. Pullings, once she's warmed up a bit." He called as he took her below.  
  
The Captain turned to Tom. "Keep a sharp eye Mr. Pullings." He said, glancing out into the waters. "She cannot have come here alone. There may be others."  
  
Tom nodded, "Aye sir." He replied.  
  
"We will have to be cautious, many of these men are very superstitious." He said thoughtfully.  
  
"And the way she was just floating in the middle of the ocean will not help matters." Tom added, wondering himself just how she came to be there.  
  
"Yes, well, keep a close eye on her as well." Aubrey said.  
  
Tom looked at the Captain quizzically. "I cannot imagine her causing any harm sir. She appeared so frightened."  
  
Captain Aubrey raised an eyebrow; a bemused look crossed his face. "Women can often be more than they appear, Mr. Pullings. Do not be fooled by an innocent face." He said knowingly, before walking away, leaving the younger man to ponder his words.

* * *

A/N: So that's chapter one. Kind of boring I know but the funny stuff comes later. I had to get the background crap out of the way. Actually, all that background on Olivia I just added because her character has grown considerably through my writing ahead to a sequel (that will probably never be....) and the fact that I use her in a rather amusing RPG. So I felt that if there's any hope of me doing the second story I better put some pointless background for Olivia.  
  
Haha another note. I started this story a loooong time ago before I read the books and as I wrote I learned more about the characters, nautical stuff (haha stuff..... yeah I'm very educated), and things in general. It has been checked for semi-correctness from my wonderful Captain (also known as Elessar King) who told me to post this. So um.... It's the Captain's fault if anything is wrong! Haha okay no, not really, but it's fun to blame stuff on Jack. This story is also kind of AU.... (haha okay very if it's a book fic... which I think it's more movie) but it's fan fiction so deal with it.  
  
Haha that being said, please review! Reviews amuse me and let me know where I'm screwing up (haha in the past it's always grammar and spelling but let's face it.... I'm not going to carefully proof an 80 some page story I'm writing for fun, just so you know) and I appreciate the feedback, good or bad. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
When Olivia opened her eyes she thought she had been dreaming. Then her eyes came to focus on a completely strange room and she noticed the sway was not her head, but the room itself. She bolted up with a gasp, quick to take in her surroundings.  
  
"Easy Miss." A gentle but firm hand gripped her shoulder, pushing to lie back down. "You've had a hard night, and I imagine the day before was not pleasant either."  
  
Olivia looked over and studied the man sitting next to her. "You were the Doctor?" She asked, slowly, her memories of the night before slowly came back. "Doctor Maturin?" She asked.  
  
"Yes Miss. Might I have your name?" He asked with a small smile.  
  
"Olivia Corin." She replied. "What am I doing here?"  
  
"We pulled you out of the water Miss. You were quite cold, do you remember much?" He asked, curiously.  
  
Olivia paused, thinking. "I was in the water. I decided to float rather than attempt to swim to shore, considering I had no idea where land was it seemed to be a good plan. I floated a really long time. It got dark. I got cold. Then your men pulled me out of the water. I passed out. Did I miss anything?"  
  
"How did you come to be in the water?" He asked.  
  
"I have no idea." Olivia replied, sitting up. She then looked around, studying her surroundings. "Is this like a reenacting ship or something?" She asked.  
  
Maturin stared at her blankly. "Pardon?"  
  
Olivia stared right back, her eyes widening. "This is going to sound really stupid, but uh, what is the year?"  
  
"1806." He replied, giving her an odd look.  
  
Her mouth dropped open. "No way!"  
  
Maturin stared at her with concern, "Are you feeling all right Miss Corin?"  
  
Olivia shut her mouth quickly. She had watched enough science fiction to know better than to tell them she was from the future. She'd either screw up the timeline, or they'd think she was crazy. "Oh, yes. I feel much better. Thank you." She replied quickly. "Just a bit hungry." That was true, she hadn't eaten since before she went rock climbing.  
  
Dr. Maturin nodded, "I'll have someone bring you food. In the meanwhile, I am sure the Captain would like you to answer a few questions, if you are feeling up to it?"  
  
Olivia nodded, trying to smile. "Of course. I'll answer whatever I can."  
  
He turned to leave. "Oh, there are some clothes on the table. I'm afraid we do not have anything suitable for a lady. They're just some clothes on loan from one of our younger crewmembers, but they're clean. They may not fit perfectly, but they're the best we can do for now."  
  
Olivia nodded, "Thank you." She replied.  
  
Doctor Maturin nodded, and left.  
  
As soon as he was gone Olivia jumped up and started pacing. She winced when she landed on her sore ankle but ignored it. "Oh shit. How hard did I hit my head?" She said, putting a hand to her head. "What trouble am I in now?" She stopped pacing a moment and glanced around. There were maps spread out on a table nearby and a cello in the corner. She must be in the captain's quarters or something. She sighed, "Okay Livie. Stay cool. Play along. You'll manage. You've got almost 200 years and two years of college education on these guys." She told herself. She went over to the table where the clothes were and held them up. Simple trousers and a white blouse- like shirt, "It could be worse." She told herself. "They could have those corset thingies for me to wear." She muttered.  
  
She changed and was surprised to find a comb next to the clothes. She wondered if it was meant for her to use. Some of these guys did have long hair after all. After touching her hair and feeling the nasty knots she decided to risk it. Combing her hair and braiding it without a mirror was a talent she had developed. When she was done she dug through the pockets of her short for something to tie it back with. She decided against the rubber band, as they didn't have rubber back in the day. Sighing she thought for a moment, and then remembered her hemp bracelet was wearing. She quickly wrapped it around the end of her hair tightly so it would hold it back. Not exactly the best hair accessory but it worked.  
  
She then resumed pacing around the room, and resorted to what she always did when she was nervous, singing old vocal exercises. This habit of hers often drove people she knew crazy, but she couldn't help it. For some reason they calmed her down. "Mommy made me mash my M&Ms. Mommy made me mash my M&Ms." She repeated this over and over, climbing the scales until she ran out. Then she resorted to syllables. "Mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi! Lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" She was not aware she was doing this loudly, but there was no doubt the entire ship could here her. Olivia never really was entirely aware of the power of her voice, or how well it carried, but everyone on board paused a moment, confused by the sudden sound of a woman singing. She continued this until a throat clearing behind her startled her.  
  
Olivia spun around, surprised to see Captain Aubrey. "Oh!" She blushed, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry."  
  
He just smiled kindly and motioned for her to sit down. "You have a lovely voice Miss Corin." He commented.  
  
"Thank you sir. And please, call me Olivia." She said with a smile, taking a seat. She hated her last name, and despised it when professors called her Miss Corin. It made her feel like she was in trouble for some reason. "I suppose you have some questions for me." She said, attempting to sound calm.  
  
"Yes. I would like to know how a young woman came to be alone in the middle of the ocean, with no sign of a ship or land." He said, waiting for her reply.  
  
Olivia rolled her eyes, "Wouldn't we both." She muttered.  
  
"Excuse me?" He asked, watching her with suspicion.  
  
"I mean, I have no idea myself sir." She caught herself, making a mental note to not roll her eyes as much as she normally did.  
  
"Surely you were on a ship? Surely you remember what ship and where you were going?" He probed.  
  
Olivia shifted in her seat, she felt like she was being interrogated and knew she'd have to think of a probable story, fast. "Perhaps I have lost my memory sir, for I cannot remember." She replied.  
  
Captain Aubrey studied her moment, as if determining if she was lying. Olivia made sure to meet his eyes and not fidget, although it was taking all her control not too. She was terrible at lying, although she really did had no idea how she got there, so it wasn't a complete lie. Finally, he spoke again. "Where is your home? Do you remember?"  
  
She hesitated, not sure of what to say. She was really from Ellison Heights, West Virginia, but that place was not there yet. "Virginia, sir." She answered, proud she hadn't blurted out West Virginia in panic.  
  
"I thought you were American." He commented. "What town in Virginia?"  
  
Well, she doubted her real hometown was there yet either, but she did think Harper's Ferry was, and it was the first thing to come to mind. "Harper's Ferry."  
  
Captain Aubrey paused, "I have never heard of that city."  
  
"Oh. It's in the mountains." She replied.  
  
"How did a woman from the mountains end up on the ocean?" Captain Aubrey asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Olivia was beginning to feel more confident at this game by now. "As I told you, sir, I do not remember."  
  
He regarded her with suspicion. "You seem to have very selective memory loss, Miss Corin."  
  
Olivia shrugged, "The mind is difficult to understand, Captain." She replied.  
  
"So it is." He said with a nod. Olivia was not sure whether he was satisfied with her replies or not, but he seemed to decide to stop pressing her. "Well, Miss Corin. Welcome abroad. You may have use of my cabin while you are here, and I suggest you stay here and not wander about."  
  
Olivia regarded him with a curious look, "Why is that?"  
  
"It is considered unlucky for a woman to be on a ship. Many of the men are superstitious. Not to mention the fact that you are the only woman these men have seen for several months. Some of them may not behave as gentlemen." He said simply. "It is merely for your protection. A ship can be a dangerous place, Miss Corin. You will be safe in here."  
  
Olivia was terrified by the idea of being stuck in one small room day in and day out. She rose to her feet and attempted to look imploring. "Sir," She said, considering her words carefully. "I am from a wild and vast country. I grew up running free in the wilderness and such freedom I am afraid has made me a bit wild myself. The very thought of being confined to your quarters terrifies me beyond measure. Without fresh air and sunlight I will suffer. Besides the fact, that I am a creature of curiosity and am dying to see the rest of your grand ship. Please, do not keep me prisoner here." Olivia finished, feeling a bit proud of her speech. She had managed to keep her temper and not curse at the Captain, which was a very good thing.  
  
And it worked. Captain Aubrey, although his face did not show any emotions, was moved by her speech and thought it must be awful to be unable to satisfy her curiosity, and gave her a small smile. "You think me heartless madam?" He asked. "Do not fear. I shall have one of my officers give you a tour, and you may walk on deck when the weather favorable. But you must promise you shall obey my officers and myself."  
  
Olivia nodded, "I do sir. For I am certain I do not know better than they about sailing." She promised with a grin. She paused a moment, "Sir? May I inquire as to where we are sailing uh... at.. er.. in..uh, location wise that is?" She winced, that sentence sounded bad even to her.  
  
"35 degrees south and 75 degrees west." He answered.  
  
"Really?" Olivia paused for a second recalling her geography class in which she was forced to memorize general longitude and latitude for continents and so forth. "So west coast of South America then? Have fun rounding the horn?" She blurted out. As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted them. Olivia had a habit of speaking without thinking. Her Grandmother had always scolded her for this, saying if Jesus himself came down she'd immediately blurt out fifty questions before he hit the ground. She was going to have to work on that, and her guard immediately went back up. Darn her and her geography classes she had taken. She knew all about the winds and atmospheric conditions that made that particularly area have bad weather, having written a report on the HMS Bounty. Olivia had a wide range of classes at college since she had taken her time in choosing a major.  
  
He gave her an odd look. "You know geography?" He said with surprise.  
  
Olivia gathered that was unusual for someone like her. "Yes. I uh.. studied it in Philadelphia." She wished she said another city. She'd never even been to Philadelphia.  
  
"You have had formal schooling?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Sure." Olivia said, wishing desperately for a subject change.  
  
"What sort of extraordinary school for ladies' would this be Miss Corin?" He asked with that suspicious tone of his.  
  
"A very good one sir." She replied, trying to hold back laughter that was suddenly boiling up from the absurdity of the situation. "So it appears I am very far from home, sir." She said, hoping to change the subject away from her unusual education and Philadelphia. God help her if he'd ever been there.  
  
"Indeed you are Miss Corin." He replied. "And it is most fortunate for your sake, that we found you." He added.  
  
Olivia nodded, "Yes sir, you have been most kind. I am grateful for your assistance." She said, managing to once again sound somewhat well mannered. "Sir, I remember, when I was pulled out, Pullings, I believe his name was, I believe he was responsible for saving my life. I would very much like to thank him."  
  
He studied her once more, as if assessing her sincerity. She still had no idea if he was satisfied by her answers for the man was impossible to read. Captain Aubrey nodded, bid her good day, and left.  
  
Olivia let out her breath, not even realizing she'd been holding it. "That guy should get a job interrogating people at airports." She muttered to herself. She got the distinct feeling he did not like her. He probably knew she was hiding something, and did not like the unexplained. She leaned back in the chair, closing her eyes, she had a splitting headache now from all the questions.  
  
A man, who appeared to be in a disagreeable mood, came in with food for her. It was bread that looked like she might be able to use it as a pencil holder. Nevertheless, she thanked the man, he grunted in return and left. She was so hungry she'd eat anything, besides, being a college student, she was used to scary food. So she ate quite happily, still considering her situation.

* * *

  
  
Meanwhile, Jack had gone to speak to Pullings in regards to Miss Corin. Tom was most anxious to find out what the Captain and Dr. Maturin had learned from the mysterious woman. For some reason he could not get his thoughts off of her. Perhaps it was merely curiosity. After all, she did appear to come out of no where. He had also heard her singing earlier. They were nonsense words, but he like practically all the men on board, had paused in their work, listening to the sweet female voice that had suddenly filled the air. He wanted to learn more about her.  
  
The Captain motioned him over as soon as he saw him, and the moment Tom was in conversation range, he began speaking. "Well, Mr. Pullings, Miss Corin has no idea how she managed to find herself floating in the Pacific. And if she does know something, she is not sharing the information."  
  
"Yes sir." Tom replied, slightly disappointed that there still was no answer to this curious riddle.  
  
"I do get the feeling she is hiding something." The Captain continued, frowning, as if still in thought. He then turned back to Pullings. "I have decided to put her in your charge." He declared.  
  
Tom blinked for a moment, surprised. "My charge sir?"  
  
"Yes. She inquired after you, and I believe it is best that she have as little contact with the rest of the crew as possible." He replied. "I have given her use of my quarters, and permission to walk on deck when the weather is favorable, although I believe it might be best to limit her to the quarterdeck, and to see that she stays out of the way, for her safety." He instructed Tom, who was starring at him as if he had sprouted another head. "Oh. And you ought to give her a brief tour of the ship. She seems quite curious, and I did promise to have one of my officers do this for her. I doubt a woman would inquire as to many technical matters, although she does seem to have some geographical knowledge and schooling."  
  
Tom was still shocked. This woman was under his charge now? Oh dear. Tom, having been at sea since he was young had little idea as to how to approach women, well, women of quality. There was something about the very thought of this woman that filled him with an odd emotion. He was not entirely sure what it was, but it was something like dread. "Yes sir." He managed to reply to the Captain.  
  
Aubrey gave him an odd look, for he had gone quite pale very quickly. "I believe she is eating at the moment, but in a while I suggest you go down to her. She was asking to see you."  
  
Pullings gave a start, staring at the Captain blankly. "May I inquire as to what she wishes, sir?"  
  
Jack gave him another odd look, wondering if he should inquire to the man's health. "To thank you for saving her life, Mr. Pullings."  
  
"Oh! Yes, of course!" He felt his face flush, which turned an odd shade considering how pale it had gone earlier. "Yes sir, I will go shortly."  
  
He was not behaving as he usually did, Aubrey noted. Perhaps he was ill. He considered inquiring, but thought better of it. That was really between Pullings and Stephen. As long as he continued to do his duties Jack decided he would definitely stay out of it. He nodded to the younger man, "And good luck with her, Mr. Pullings." He said, turning to leave. He needed to consult Stephen further, and find out if she told him anything. He knew she was hiding something, if he could only learn what it was he would feel much better about all this.  
  
Tom watched him go, still dumbfounded. "Thank you sir." Tom paused a moment, wondering what to do next. He would wait for Miss Corin to finish eating, but in the meantime he ought to make sure he looked presentable. He quickly went to his cabin and shaved, ran a comb through his hair and retied his queue. He then put on a fresh shirt, one that was not stained and smelled slightly better, and pulled on his coat. He then quickly checked his appearance in the small glass. His eyes lingered on the scar across his face and he suddenly felt very self-conscious about it. He sighed, why did women always make him so uncomfortable? He supposed he ought to go see to Miss Corin. The thought terrified him actually. Why did the Captain have to put her in his charge? He supposed it was because it was his watch when she came abroad, and he was the one who saw her in the water. He checked his appearance one more time, and satisfied, turned and went to the Great Cabin where Miss Corin was waiting.  
  
He entered to find the young lady standing at the windows, her back to him, watching something. She turned when he entered, and smiled kindly. Tom noted that with some amusement that she really looked quite charming in boy's clothing, if that were possible, and appeared to be quite comfortable in them as well. She looked much better than she had before, color returned to her cheeks and her eyes not wide with fear.  
  
"I hope I find you well Miss Corin?" He said politely.  
  
She nodded, crossing the room to him. "Very well, thank you. But please, call me Olivia." She said.  
  
Tom was surprised by this, for he did not believe he was on familiar enough terms with her to address her as such, but instead he forced a nervous smile. "If you prefer, Mi- Olivia." He replied.  
  
She smiled, "Yes I do." She then quickly tucked a small strand of hair that had fallen loose of her braid behind an ear absent-mindedly and shifted on her feet. "I wanted to thank you, Mr. Pullings, for saving my life." She told him, quite earnestly.  
  
Tom felt his face grow hot, and he lowered his eyes and murmured something about it being his duty. He found her forward manner most unsettling, and never being one with much charm around women, and was at a complete loss as to what exactly he should say. He stood there in silence a moment, suddenly the floor had become quite interesting and he found his hands to be utterly useless, hanging dumbly at his side.  
  
Olivia seemed to find the silence unsettling herself, for after a few seconds she cleared her thought, "So! What happens now?" She said, in a manner to start a conversation.  
  
Tom looked up, still feeling rather at a loss for words. "Well, Miss Corin, the Captain has put you in my charge."  
  
She gave him a strange look, "Your charge?" She said in an amused tone, raising an eyebrow. "What am I a prize goat?" She asked.  
  
Tom however, completely missed the amusement in her voice and hurriedly spoke to cover any insult. "No disrespect is intended Miss! It is merely an act so that someone will see you come to no harm." He explained, turning a deeper shade of red.  
  
Olivia let out a small laugh, "Relax, I wasn't insulted. I was joking."  
  
"Oh." Tom replied with a frown.  
  
She sighed, but was still smiling, amused by his reactions. "If I am to be in your charge, Lieutenant Pullings, we are going to have to work on your sense of humor."  
  
Tom gave her a small, nervous smile. "As you wish, Miss Corin."  
  
"I thought I told you to call me Olivia?" She replied, doing her best to sound cross, but failing and laughing merrily.  
  
"Olivia." He replied, with that same nervous smile, and turning yet another shade of red. "The Captain mentioned you would like to see more of the Surprise?"  
  
Olivia's eyes brightened with excitement at this. "Oh yes please! Is now a good time?" She asked.  
  
Tom hesitated, not wanting to tire her. She had after all, had an exhausting day yesterday, and today, waking up in a strange place must not be much better. "If you are feeling well enough."  
  
She waved her hand as if to dismiss any doubts about her health. "I feel perfectly fine." She said.  
  
Tom nodded, "Very well then, Olivia." He said with a smile at her obvious excitement. "If you would follow me?"  
  
"See? Now is calling me Olivia so hard?" She teased with a grin, falling into step behind him.  
  
Tom paused a moment, and held back a sigh. The Captain was right. He was going to need all the luck he could get.

* * *

Olivia listened as the rather jittery officer began to go on and on about the sails, their names, and the seemingly thousands of ropes, which all also seemed to have names of their own as well. They stood on what she thought he had referred to as the quarterdeck. She was trying her best to follow his descriptions, but he kept using nautical terms and was talking rather quickly, she found her attention wandering despite her best efforts. It amazed her how an innocent comment of "I never knew there were so many sails" lead to what appeared to be an hour lecture on all the different ones. Finally, Olivia had about all she could stand of his ramblings and held up a hand.  
  
"I don't mean to be rude, sir." She said trying her best to keep the irritation out of her voice. "But I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."  
  
Pullings stopped in the middle of explaining what the spanker was used for and blinked with surprise. "Oh. My apologies Miss."  
  
Olivia merely smiled with amusement. "Keep in mind that the farthest I've ever been in the ocean is waist-deep off the Carolina coast. I think with me you're going to have to speak in normal English, very slowly, using very, very, small words."  
  
To Olivia's amazement, Tom Pullings actually laughed at her exaggerated exasperation. "I take it you have heard enough about the sails Miss Corin."  
  
"You got that right." Olivia said. "Unless.... you aren't going to like, test me on this stuff are you?" She said, her annoying, sarcastic side was showing once more and she knew it, but she felt more at ease with Pullings than she had earlier with the Captain. Of course, that man interrogating you was enough to make anyone ill at ease. She supposed it was Tom's nervous manner around her that made her relax and behave more like herself. She also knew she really ought to attempt to be more 'proper' at all times, but that would drive her absolutely insane.  
  
He regarded her with some amusement, finding her a very odd woman. "Perhaps I ought to." He said, trying not to laugh at the horrified look on her face.  
  
"Flying jib and spanker are all I know." She said with a snort. "Amusing names stick with me better."  
  
He titled his head to the side and regarded her with raised eyebrows. "Perhaps we should change the names of all the sails to suite you Miss Corin."  
  
Grinning Olivia replied with a tone that she knew would have made her Grandmother groan and give her a good whack in the head. "Yeah, could you? That'd be great."  
  
Tom merely smiled and turned to lead her from the quarterdeck. "If you'll follow me Miss Corin? Mind your step."  
  
Olivia followed him down to the other part of the deck that he had yet to tell her the name of, having gotten preoccupied with the sails. She was proud of the fact that she was not falling on her face with the rocking of the ship. She was relatively sure her stomach would not trouble her, always having a strong stomach that could ride roller coasters until everyone else was green and throwing up, but the fact that she was not falling on her face and was moving with as much confidence as if she was on a very familiar cliff, which was almost as confident as on flat ground.  
  
Pullings had started to talk once more, pointing,. "That, Miss, is the capstan. It is used to-" He stopped suddenly, as he foot somehow became tangled in a rope and he went crashing to the deck quite clumsily.  
  
"Oh!" If it had been one of her friends back home, Olivia would have laughed and teased mercilessly, but she doubted that this man would find it very funny, so instead she was concerned. He had fallen rather hard, almost flipping over the rope. "Are you all right?" She asked, kneeling beside him to help him to his feet once more.  
  
The poor man turned a very deep shade of red and gathered himself to his feet on his own, Olivia rose as well, still concerned, especially since his face changed to such a deep shade so quickly.  
  
"I am fine." He mumbled, not meeting her eyes. "Where was I?"  
  
"The capstan." Olivia supplied, still concerned over his fall.  
  
"Yes, the capstan." And he launched into a detailed description of it, allowing Olivia's mind to once again wander, but she did her best to appear to be listening, as she did not want to hurt the poor man's feelings. He was after all, trying very hard. It was not his fault she found little interest in the details of every little thing on board. She began to list the major triads in her head as quickly as she could. Doing this always made her look as if she was extremely interested in what was going on around her. This trick was what she always did during geology lectures, which were enough to put anyone to sleep. Before she knew it, they were moving once again and she snapped out of her reprieve once more.

* * *

Tom was mortified by how badly this tour was going. He knew he was rambling, but he simply could not help himself. Then his trip over the ropes made him look a fool in front of her, and that did nothing for his esteem. Below deck was going considerably better, he must say. Their visit to sick-berth gave Tom a much needed relief from talking, for Dr. Maturin seemed more than happy to exchange kind words with Miss Corin and seemed pleased when she inquired to the types to remedies he had on board. Her mood seemed to change considerably when she was speaking with others Tom noted. She suddenly became much more formal and reserved when speaking to Dr. Maturin and he wondered why that was.  
  
Dr. Maturin also noticed something Tom had completely missed. Miss Corin seemed to be limping, taking the weight off her right foot. When questioned about it, she merely shrugged. "Oh. It is nothing. My ankle is merely twisted, sprained at the most."  
  
Despite her assurances that it did not pain her much, Dr. Maturin insisted upon checking it himself. Once her boot was removed the flesh of her ankle was indeed notably swollen and a purplish blue color. For her credit, she did not cry out at all when Dr. Maturin moved her foot or poked to examine. She merely made a face in discomfort. Tom meanwhile was kicking himself for not noticing her limp before and dragging her all over the ship when she should have been resting.  
  
"You were quite right my dear. It is indeed sprained. Not badly mind you, but it certainly warrants a dressing." He told her.  
  
Olivia nodded, "I hope I am not too much trouble, Doctor."  
  
He gave her a kind smile, "Not at all Miss Corin." He quickly retrieved some strips of cloth for bandages and gently wrapped her swollen ankle. "Have you any idea how you managed this, Miss Corin?" He asked.  
  
Olivia clearly hesitated, even Tom noticed. She then shook her head. "I am afraid that like many things I have forgotten Doctor."  
  
He nodded, finishing the dressing. "Well, there you are my dear! I thank you for sitting so still, many a man has squirmed so terribly while wrapping an ankle I often have half a mind to break their bones if only to make them still."  
  
Olivia laughed, "You sound like Mel." She said, obviously absent-mindedly, for the moment she said it her eyes widened as they looked to her for an explanation. "A friend of mine, who also studies medicine." She quickly covered.  
  
"I see." The Doctor looked doubtful, and Tom also found her reaction quite odd.  
  
"If it pains you much Miss Corin please inform me." Dr. Maturin told her. "And you really ought to be resting." He added as she pulled her boot back on once more.  
  
"It really does not pain me much at all Doctor, a minor irritation at most." She assured him, standing once again. "Believe me, I am really much stronger than I look." She assured him.  
  
Dr. Maturin smiled, "I do not doubt that Miss Corin." He nodded to them both and bid them good day, and they left once again.  
  
Which meant, Tom was now on his own for conversation with her once more. "Shall we continue? Or perhaps you would like to rest?" He offered.  
  
"Continue please. I very much do not need the rest." She insisted.  
  
And so they continued on their way. Olivia was really quite talkative and back to her usual forward self. Tom actually found himself growing more confident in his words as they went on. They met young Lord Blakeney along the way, and he of course, gave his polite greetings. Olivia replied kindly with a smile, not making comment on his absent arm, for that Tom was thankful, but she was clearly surprised by something, a look Tom was beginning to recognize, because it was usually followed by a question. As soon as the boy was out of earshot she leaned closer and whispered. "He's so young."  
  
"He is at least twelve years, Miss. That is quite normal I assure you." He told her. "The same age as I was."  
  
She gave him an amused look and replied with a small laugh. "Well that explains a lot." Her tone was quite teasing, and Tom very much wanted to ask what she meant, but thought better of it.  
  
Instead, he merely turned and went to follow Blakeney's steps in heading back up on deck. "If you'll follow me Miss?" He said to her, stepping up the ladder. However, a loud crack and a sharp pain on his head, causing his vision to go dark for the briefest moment met him and he stumbled back down holding his head.  
  
Olivia did her best to hold back her laughter, but it got the better of her, and with a rather un-ladylike snort she made comment, "Watch your head" In a rather obvious tone. Then attempting to cover up her laughter came to his side once more. "That definitely sounded painful. Are you all right?"  
  
Meanwhile, young Blakeney, who had barely stepped away, heard the sharp crack and turned back to investigate, curiosity getting the better of him. When he saw poor Tom leaning for his life against the ladder and holding his head, doing his best not to let Miss Corin know just how much that hurt, he gave the poor Lieutenant a rather odd look. "Are you well sir?" He asked earnestly.  
  
Tom waved the boy away, feeling his face grow hot. He was making quite the spectacle of himself today and he knew it. He was not only embarrassed, but his head hurt something terrible. He had no idea that he had been going quickly enough to cause such pain.  
  
Olivia of course was still by his side, watching with concern. Finally she stepped closer grabbing hold of his wrist, to move away his hand. "Here, let me see."  
  
Tom removed his hand, until she started to pry open his eye, which he had shut, knowing full well a black eye would develop there and he would have to explain to the other officers and worse the Captain just how he managed it. With a sharp breath he jerked away from her hand, uttering a curse under his breath.  
  
Olivia however, was not intimidated by this at all and let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh honestly! Let me see!" She insisted. Tom still pushed away her hands, feeling quite fed up at the moment. It was her next comment that finally made him yield. "Stop being such a baby, Tom Pullings." She instructed quite firmly.  
  
Tom, feeling quite foolish, relented, allowing her to study his fresh black eye and poor banged head with what seemed to be a surprisingly professional manner.  
  
She nodded, taking her hands away. "Quite a shiner and that bump on the head will certainly leave a mark, but you'll live. The eye looks fine."  
  
If he had the use of both eyes he would have given her a strange look. "And you are an expert on such matters?" He said crossly.  
  
Olivia shrugged in her usual manner when she was about to explain away something. "I have a little brother who seems to think the answer to everything is swinging a fist. Unfortunately, he tends to disagree with those a lot bigger than he is." She said rolling her eyes. "And no one ever bothered to teach the poor boy how to duck."  
  
Tom, despite his painful head, laughed. "Well, you seem to be an expert at so many things, Miss Corin, perhaps you should instruct him."  
  
She returned his laugh, "In his dreams. I need to keep my edge on the boy, he's taller than I am now." She joked, her eyes shining.  
  
Olivia then turned serious once more. "I am sorry I laughed earlier, Mr. Pullings." She said quite earnestly.  
  
Tom merely smiled, "Give it no mind, Olivia. I have been telling you all day to mind your head and step. It must have seemed most amusing."  
  
Olivia grinned, "Oh it did, but I still should have at least asked if you were all right before I laughed."  
  
He nodded, attempting to be grave. "Yes Miss Corin, or perhaps your dear younger brother is not the only one who needs to learn to duck."  
  
Olivia blinked, surprised at his joke, and then burst out laughing. Tom, for some odd reason he could not place, felt very pleased to have amused her so, and joined in the laughter, still holding his poor head and feeling very silly at the moment, but not particularly caring.

* * *

Night had fallen and Jack had every intention of returning to his quarters, writing to Sophie, and going to sleep. However, he stopped at the Great Cabin, remembering he had given his quarters to Miss Corin. He sighed and paused a moment to think. When he had put Miss Corin there he had not thought of where exactly he would sleep. A lack of planning on his part that he now suffered for. Sighing, he supposed he would have to take a spare hammock and bunk with Stephen temporarily.  
  
When he arrived Stephen looked up from his book with some surprise. "Ah Jack. What do I owe the pleasure?" He asked.  
  
Rather sheepishly, Jack held up the hammock. "I came to ask you if I might sleep here temporarily." He said. "It seems I have given my own quarters to our guest."  
  
"Ah, yes Miss Corin, of course." Stephen smiled, shutting his book. "By all means Jack, I suppose we all must make sacrifices now and then."  
  
Jack chose not to ask after that comment. Instead he hung the hammock and took a seat across from Stephen. "There are advantages to keeping Miss Corin in my quarters you know." He pointed out, to defend his decision.  
  
"Oh really?" Stephen asked, looking up in a look of mixed surprise and curiosity. "And what, pray tell, are they?"  
  
"She is easier to guard there." Jack said simply.  
  
Stephen looked at Jack over his glasses, a looked mixed with surprise and disapproval. "And why on Earth would you place her under guard?"  
  
"Do you not find it odd that an American woman is found alone, without a ship in sight, and happens to be seen by a ship?" Jack asked.  
  
Stephen raised an eyebrow. "You think her a spy for the Americans?"  
  
"I do not know." Jack admitted unhappily. "All I know is that I dislike the mysterious circumstances of her arrival, and her lack of answers." Jack frowned, "And she has been asking many questions about the Surprise."  
  
Stephen was still watching Jack from over his glasses. "Perhaps she is merely curious." He pointed out.  
  
"Perhaps. Or perhaps she is gathering information on His Majesty's navy to feed to the Americans." Jack countered, not realizing how ridiculous the idea sounded to his friend and surgeon.  
  
Stephen laughed softly. "Paranoia does not become you Jack."  
  
"I find it is often necessary to be paranoid in my profession, brother." He replied, sighing. "I do not trust this woman."  
  
"Yes, I gathered that much." Stephen took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes wearily. "But what would you do? Throw her overboard?"  
  
"Oh course not!" Jack replied quickly. "Heavens Stephen, what do you take me for?" He asked. "No. I will treat her as kindly as civility requires, Stephen, and will see that she is well cared for. I have no fact to base my paranoia upon."  
  
Stephen nodded, satisfied. "I noticed you put her in Mr. Pullings charge."  
  
"Yes. What of it?"  
  
"Nothing. Forgive my gossip, but I notice Pullings behaved rather strangely when in her company. Poor man. And after seeing Miss Corin to the Great Cabin once again, he came to see me with a rather nasty black eye. Apparently, he hit his head heading up on deck." Stephen explained. "He seems quite taken with the young lady."  
  
"Lord help us." Jack sighed, closing his eyes. "He is not at ease with women, but I trust him. If Miss Corin is up to something suspicious he will inform me without hesitation." He said, with confidence.  
  
Stephen nodded, "Well, at least now you have been informed of poor Tom's rather nasty looking eye. I am sure he dreaded explaining to you how he managed to injury himself." Stephen then stood from his desk. "Well, I am going to retire now. Goodnight Jack." He said, preparing to sleep.  
  
"Rest well Stephen. If the light does not bother you much, I shall write a while before retiring myself." Jack replied.  
  
"Not at all." Stephen said, and soon he was fast asleep. However, this sleep was interrupted by a terrible snort.  
  
Stephen bolted up, almost falling over. It was dark now and he peered through to darkness to see Jack fast asleep. The horrible noise that had woken the Doctor was coming from the slumbering Captain. Groaning, Stephen attempted to block the noise, but found it quite impossible. Indeed it sounded as if some breed of cow had settled in Jack's throat. 'Heavens, I will never sleep with this racket.' He thought, miserably. 'How is it he does not wake himself?' He pondered this marvel, as he lay awake for a restless night of listening to the man snore loudly enough to wake the dead themselves.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter posted. Huzzah! This one seems rather long to me but I couldn't find a good stopping point. Teehee Pullings is falling everywhere, I'm so mean. Note again, sorry for any mistakes, like in my wording of the longitude or something. Also, the date, yeah I grabbed a random year. So sue me.  
  
Jack: Haha you snore (points and laughs). Actually it's not cool because I'm not getting sleep. (poke) Bet you know what's coming in the next chapter (evil grin). Let's all point and laugh at Pullings now (points and laugh) HA HA!  
  
Gaeriel Palpatine: Glad you liked the beginning. Hope you like this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Sillytigerlily: Hehe glad you enjoy. Don't worry this story is almost done so I shouldn't keep you waiting too long. I just like leaving some time between chapters you know? Anyway, thanks for reviewing!  
  
Angel of the Night Watchers: Haha yay!! You followed me here! I'm happy! I've started reading the books, right now I'm going through HMS Surprise. I've read Master and Commander and Post Captain, and a lot of the later ones because the library only had them. Like Truelove through to Blue at the Mizzen. But I started this story before I read anything... haha. Hope you enjoy m'dear!  
  
Look here everyone! Please, please review! I like reviews! They make me happy! 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
The next night, Olivia found herself seated at the Captain's table for dinner, along with many other officers. Mr. Pullings had explained to her earlier that since she was in his charge, she would eat with him, so whenever he ate with the Captain, she did as well. Olivia secretly wondered where all these rules came from and if there was a book somewhere that she could read that listed them all in an index so she could look them up. It would certainly make her life easier, not to mention give her something to do.  
  
She was pleasantly surprised however, as the meal went on, to find that they were quite a jolly group. Even the Captain was laughing, which made him seem a lot less intimidating than when he was "interrogating" her earlier. Olivia was not usually timid or afraid of people, but Captain Jack Aubrey definitely had managed to make her feel about the size of a pin. Tonight however, he was quite pleasant, inquiring after her health and even smiling as he greeted her. They all made noble attempts to include her in the conversation, however, she would skillfully redirect the conversation back away from her whenever questioned. The last thing she wanted was to let something slip in front of a group of people, so she preferred to sit and listen to the friendly conversation around her. She was seated between Tom, of course, and a man named Mr. Howard, who apparently led the marines. Olivia had felt she did a good job of cover her surprise at the fact that there were soldiers abroad who were not sailors, and was prepared when she finally met Howard. It was Captain Howard who brought the conversation back to Olivia once more, asking her a particularly tricky question.  
  
"Miss Corin, if you do not mind my inquiring, your people, were they English?" He asked. It was an honest enough question, considering in that time it would not have been surprising if Olivia was the first generation born in America. However, Olivia's background was very mixed on her father's side, and very Hungarian on her mother's.  
  
Genealogy flew through her head. "Well..." She replied slowly, stalling for time. "My family has lived in America a while. And our name has changed over the years." Well, that was true, or at least she thought it was true. She was afraid if she said yes they'd ask where in England and she'd be doomed.  
  
"But surely you have some idea my dear?" The Doctor pressed.  
  
Olivia fought the urge to give him an evil glare and a kick, and attempted a weak smile, "Well, my Mother's family is easier, they were Hungarian all of them. My Father's family was German, Irish, Swedish, oh and there's some French in there I believe, English probably, and I think I read Austrian somewhere, among many things." She rambled away, attempting to explain, feeling quite uncomfortable and well aware she had probably named off more generations than she should, but never being any good with math, had no idea just how many years that would take. She cleared her throat and smiled, "If I were a dog I'd be a terrible mutt I'm afraid."  
  
They all laughed, and the Captain smiled kindly, "Well, Miss Corin, mutts can be quite noble and loyal as well as any pure breed creature." He said, exchanged a brief look with the Doctor, who smiled appreciatively.  
  
"And have the most marvelous voices." Added Mr. Allen. "Forgive me Miss, but your voice was quite lovely the other morning."  
  
Olivia felt her face grow hot as once again all eyes fell on her. "You heard me?"  
  
"The whole ship did my dear." Stephen said with a smile.  
  
"Perhaps we may trouble you for a song?" Mr. Mowett asked.  
  
"A song?" Olivia felt her mind go blank. She had no idea what on earth she would sing. Of course she knew plenty of songs, but at the moment they seemed to all fly out of her head. However, she did not think it would be polite to refuse. "Of course." She said with a smile. They continued to stare at her, expectantly and her eyes widened. "Now?"  
  
"Well, why not while we are waiting for Killick to bring in the pudding!" Captain Aubrey raised his voice so Killick could hear him.  
  
"Which it will be ready when ready." Came the faint grumble from the back, bringing a smile to the faces of those at the table.  
  
"Well... if you insist." Olivia said, slowly rising. She was surprised that all the men rose from their seats slightly as she stood. "Oh! I was just standing, better for breath support you know?"  
  
"Ah." Stephen said as they sat. "Of course."  
  
Songs flashed through Olivia's head. She had no idea what to sing. Finally, she settled for a piece she'd worked on in voice last semester. The Chasons Boheme, a Bizet piece she believed, from Carmen. She had no idea what had been composed by 1806 and what hadn't, and while she was sure this was not composed yet, at least she was sure knew the words.  
  
"Keep in mind gentlemen, I've not warmed up at all. It may sound terrible." She told them with a smile, gathering herself and remembering the notes so she would not be off pitch. She began to sing, as usual when she sung in another language, in this case French, she blocked out the audience and focused on the words. It was a fast song, which sped up as it went along, and also got higher. She was particularly proud when she managed to hold out a rather high note for a decent amount of time, which was pretty good considering she had not properly warmed up. When she finished, her audience applauded appreciatively. TomPullings, she noted with amusement, was staring at her as if he'd never heard anyone sing before, his mouth hanging slightly open.  
  
"That was lovely my dear." Stephen said. "Wherever did you learn to sing so beautifully?"  
  
"In Philadelphia I assume?" The Captain raised an eyebrow that marked his suspicion.  
  
Olivia stared blankly a moment until she remembered her lie earlier. "Oh! Yes. I've received much vocal training there." She said quickly to cover her momentary lapse.  
  
Tom was still staring at her and she felt her face beginning to go hot. She did not think anyone had ever looked at her so oddly before in her life.  
  
"And what did you think Tom?" The Captain asked, noticing the younger man's mouth hanging open, and watching him with amused disapproval.  
  
Tom snapped out of it suddenly, and stumbled over his words. "Oh! You are quite lovely, I mean, your voice, it was loud- beautiful!" He turned a deep shade of crimson. "Thank you, Miss Corin." He said, looking down at his plate, as if he wished he could sink through his seat and disappear at that very moment.  
  
Olivia merely smiled, "It was nothing." She said, returning to her seat next to Pullings, who was still refusing to meet her eye.  
  
Surprisingly, it was Killick who saved poor Tom, bringing in the pudding with his usual air of annoyance.  
  
"There, Killick, there." The Captain directed with a nod.  
  
He set it down before Olivia, who was not quite sure how to react. It did not look exactly appetizing, but she hated to be rude, so she smiled and looked at the Captain.  
  
"As our guest, you may have the first helping, Miss Corin." He told her.  
  
She swallowed, deciding against pleading full, and took a small serving onto her plate. "Thank you, sir." She said, hoping she sounded happier than she felt.  
  
The Captain gave her a small smile and nodded, he seemed to be enjoying the curious look upon her face. "Mr. Pullings, if you will?"  
  
Tom, who had been avoiding everyone's eyes, looked up as if he had been lost in thought and now had no idea what was happening. He looked at his Captain, then at the pudding, and then finally reacted. "Oh! Of course sir!" He went to pick up the plate, unfortunately, at the same time Olivia had been reaching for her wine glass and their hands collided.  
  
Tom, who had just lifted the pudding plate, jumped at the touch of her hand, and the pudding went flying through the air with amazing speed, and oddly enough seemed to stay together as a solid form. Now, since Tom seemed to be having no luck whatsoever these days, it landed in the worse possible place, the Captain's lap, splattering upon impact and covering him completely.  
  
Everyone at the table was silent, all except for Killick who immediately cursed rather loudly and muttered something about impossible stains. Olivia was about to laugh until she saw the horrified look upon Tom's face, as if he just walked up and kicked the Pope five times and spat upon him. Tom was white as a sheet, frozen, as if unsure what exactly to do. The Captain even looked rather surprised at the food now decorating his uniform.  
  
Finally, it was Dr. Maturin who found his voice. "Well, Mr. Pullings, I am assuming the pudding was lighter than usual?" He said, the amusement in his tone clearly evident, for which Olivia was thankful that she was not the only one who found this amusing.  
  
The Captain slowly took his finger and ran it across his sleeve, gathering the pudding on his index finger. He then put it in his mouth, cleaning it of the substance. "Delicious." He declared. "My compliments, Killick."  
  
Olivia could no longer contain herself and snickered, which started the others to laugh as well. Mr. Allen was banging the table with mirth, and the rest seemed equally amused. All except of course for Tom, who was apologizing to the Captain as if he had just shot him rather than pour pudding down his front, and turning probably his darkest shade of red yet. Olivia decided silently that she ought to count how many times a day the man turned red, and rate the hues.  
  
"Well, would anyone like mine then? I certainly do not need it all." She offered the men with a laugh, and then turned to the Captain with a smirk. "Except for you of course, you sir, have plenty."  
  
The Captain laughed, "Indeed." He agreed. "Have no fear though, Tom." He assured him. "I have had far worse."  
  
The evening was quickly ended. The Captain could hardly sit around in clothes coated in pudding, and Killick was quick to attempt to clean them, grumbling all the way about careless men with starry eyes for silly girls, and poor Tom Pullings retired to his hammock for some sleep before his watch. Although he could find no sleep as the thoughts tormented him. Why did he make such a fool of himself around Olivia Corin? So far he had managed to trip and fall, hit his head rather badly, stare impolitely with his mouth hanging open like a fish, stumble clumsily over his words, and spill pudding all over the Captain. He wondered what was next with dread. What was it about her that turned him into such an incompetent idiot? Perhaps she was some sort of witch who cast a spell on him. He knew that was preposterous, although, she did appear most mysteriously out of nowhere and had little or strange answers to many of the questions asked of her. She was by far the most unusual woman he had ever met, and somehow she managed to fill his thoughts. He could not get his mind off her, and before he had gotten a chance for any sleep, the bell tolled and it was time for his watch. With a sigh he rose from his hammock, he would have to find a way to deal with Olivia Corin, but he had absolutely no idea how.

* * *

A/N: (points and laughs at Tom) Haha he's acting like an idiot. The song I picked for Olivia is off an opera CD I have and love. I just copied what was listed so if it's wrong... shoot them not me. I had help with this scene many many months ago when I was plotting this monstrousity of a story meant to torture poor Pullings, so props to the Captain as usual, Elessar King, if you ain't read her stories yet go do it now! Or I'll.... I'll.... well I can't do anything but you should read them! She can write battle scenes!  
  
Jack: Haha you got puddinged by a Pullings (points and laughs) Poor Tom. He does have issues. Of course YOU have issues too.... well so do I, at least your wife isn't a ho..... I think everyone on the ship has issues.... except Mowett perhaps, but he's Sam!  
  
Nautical weasal: Wow. Thanks a bunch. I'm not overly wordy? Haha we'll see if you say the same thing after I post a chapter that I confused myself on. Thanks for the review and hope you enjoyed the update m'dear!  
  
Angel of the Night Watchers: Hey, I just reviewed your companion story hehe! Yay good job! Anyway, Tom/Olivia you ask??? Hm......... well what do YOU think? Hehe..... he does seem to be FALLING for her doesn't he? Hehe oooh bad pun... JACK! LOOK! I'm turning into YOU!!! Sorry... shouldn't put messages to other people in other peoples review replies.... can't help it though. As always m'dear thank you for reading, and for saying such nice things about my story in your companion story, and for doing a great job with Erchirion. Expect an update soon as I've got 80 pages on this one done already! Toodles! 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
Two weeks had past since Miss Corin's odd appearance on the Surprise, and she found herself falling into a routine. She spent as much time sitting on the quarterdeck as possible, out of the way of course. She would amuse herself by watching what was transpiring on deck around her, or she would merely stare out into the ocean. She found the rolling hypnotic, like staring at a lava lamp for hours on end. She would often sing softly, or would attempt to sing softly, she had a bad habit of getting louder as she went on, which drew attention, something she normally attempted not to do. No one found her singing offensive, but the reaction was often one of surprise to hear a lovely soprano voice ringing out on the wind. Because of her singing, she was unknowingly given a nickname among the men, the Siren. They did their best to keep this from the officers, for the nickname had a certain ominous touch to it. Sirens lured sailors to their deaths, and seeing as how it was bad luck to have a woman abroad, many of the less educated men (and admittedly some of the most educated) felt that she would certainly cause their doom. However, none protested to her singing, for it was often a cheerful song that would help to lift their spirits as they went about their tasks.  
  
Olivia found herself wondering if she would ever get home again. So far she thought she had done a decent job of covering up the minor fact that she was from nearly two hundred years into the future. She would slip up every now and then, but for the most part she watched her words and mannerisms and attempted to be well mannered at all times. Dr. Maturin had inquired later about her friend she that she had said studied medicine, but she had somehow managed to fumble her way through the conversation by saying she was not entirely sure where exactly they had studied, for she only recently came to know them. Mel was in fact Olivia's former roommate who studied athletic training and would complain constantly about subjects moving around and not keeping their feet in the right position. Olivia, often being Mel's practice subject had gotten quite good at sitting still and going about her work while Mel wrapped her feet with Lord only knows how much tape. It was from Mel mainly that she had learned all about sprains and how to wrap them, and therefore she knew that her ankle was healing nicely. So nicely it was almost completely back to normal.  
  
It was around Tom Pullings she found herself relaxing and slipping into her normal ways of behavior, but the most he ever questioned her with was an odd look. Besides, it did not bother her when she slipped up and said something foolish, for however odd she behaved poor Tom would soon do something clumsy or say something foolish that would soon be a distraction. She had to admit she found his slightly clumsy manner around her very amusing and even charming. She knew from watching him set about his duties that he really was not clumsy at all, it was just around her for some odd reason that his confidence disappeared. She found him very considerate, which was most refreshing, even though his constant nervous inquiries to her health, ankle, and every little thing that could possibly be wrong slightly irritated her, but he was so sincere and just plain nervous that it made up for it. Olivia decided that her mission was now to calm that poor man down a bit and make him more comfortable with her presence. Olivia always had a need to make everyone around her at ease, and besides, if Tom was to be the person she had the most contact with on the ship, she wanted to become his friend.  
  
It was late in the afternoon and Olivia was sitting in her usual spot on the quarterdeck, staring out over the waves. She was trying to recall the lyrics for the melody that was running through her head when Tom approached. He normally came over to inquire after her health and to see how his charge fared, but today Olivia was determined to detain him for a moment to speak with. Meals with him were usually surprisingly silent, and he offered her little more than explanations for nautical events. Trigonometry not exactly being her strong point, she found this impersonal conversation rather dull.  
  
"Good afternoon Miss Corin." He greeted. "I hope I find you well."  
  
"How could I not be well Mr. Pullings? Look at that sky! It is clear blue." She replied with a smile.  
  
Tom returned her smile shyly, "That it is, Miss Corin." He replied.  
  
"Do you see much weather like this in your home, Mr. Pullings?" She asked boldly, determined to start a conversation.  
  
Tom laughed, "Hardly ever. It is mostly gray and rain. You have not been to England I gather?"  
  
Olivia shook her head, "Of course not. I've never really been anywhere of importance. I always wanted to travel though, see the world firsthand, have exciting adventures, and meet fascinating people." She laughed. "I imagine you've been to a great many places, and you probably find my thoughts rather childish."  
  
Tom smiled at her honest sincerity, "Not at all Olivia. I find them only surprising. I thought all women longed for a secure home, good husband, and healthy babes."  
  
She raised an eyebrow amused, if she'd been at home she probably would have shouted or sent him flying, for as small as she was, Olivia packed a mean punch, but considering where she was she found his reply amusing and laughed. "Hardly so. Call me crazy, but I'd rather see a bit more of what's out there before deciding where I want my home to be. A good husband would be nice, I guess, eventually, maybe, but I'm not exactly going to break my neck looking for one, besides my grandmother claims I'm far too independent for any decent man's tastes. And as for children..." She made a face, pausing to think. "I like the idea of children. Little ones are cute sometimes. But it's the whole birth thing that really scares me. I mean, think about it, they're like this big" She indicated an infant's size with her hands, "And they come out that size! Looks downright painful to me." She said, rambling on as she often did.  
  
"I see." Tom gave her an odd look, and Olivia immediately knew she had gone too far in her words. Tom however, was pondering all she had said. He had certainly never thought of babies before in that manner, but in thinking on it he imagined that it would hurt quite a bit, and was also now surprised that any person was born at all and that any woman survived giving birth and would actually do it again.  
  
"I'm sorry, I've gone too far." Olivia quickly apologized. "I do that sometimes."  
  
Tom smiled at her, "Not at all, Olivia. You speak your mind and say what you think plainly. I find that much more refreshing than merely allowing others to guess." He assured her. He paused a moment, as if wondering whether he should voice his thoughts or not, finally he spoke once more. "Do you miss your home at all?"  
  
Olivia was caught by surprise. She had not really thought of it in those terms. She had been more concerned with how exactly she managed to time travel and end up there. She thought of the mountains and suddenly was hit with overwhelming longing for the familiarity of them. The comfort in seeing her mountains day after day, her school was in a relatively flat area, but she need only travel an hour or so to see mountains once more.  
  
She sighed, gazing out at the waters. "Now that I think of it I do. There is much comfort in the mountains. They provide protection in a way, or at least a protective feeling that I never realized until I left them. They're constant, strong, the sea, well, it changes constantly, and is quite the opposite I suppose." She laughed at herself, crossing her arms. "I suppose I'm a paradox. Longing for adventure, yet missing the familiar sights of home." She turned to Tom, curiously. "I don't suppose you ever get homesick?"  
  
"I am home." He replied almost immediately. He then paused, searching for comforting words. "But, when I was a younger and new to the life, I suppose..." He trailed off, lost in thoughts, trying to recall days long since gone. "I find that home is often what is most familiar. This is what is familiar to me, your mountains are what is familiar to you, especially since you do not remember how you came to be here."  
  
Olivia smiled, "Home is where the heart is." She said in a singsong voice. She then sighed, crossing her arms. "But where is that?"  
  
"Where do you wish it to be?" He said simply, his hands behind his back watching her as she stared out to sea. She seemed in a reflective mood today he noticed, which was most curious. She also seemed a bit sad, and he kicked himself for bringing up her home and making her notice how she missed it. He fought the urge to draw her close for comfort, seeing as how he was standing on the quarterdeck it would be most inappropriate, not to mention he had become in these past weeks, more aware of the nature of his feelings towards Olivia, and was doing his best to keep their relationship professional and not become too close, which could be dangerous. How it would be dangerous he was not sure, inappropriate surely, but dangerous he did not know how he came to that conclusion, but he had and was firm in his will.  
  
Olivia turned back to him, her eyes held back tears, but whether they were from the wind or not he was uncertain. She let none of them fall though and met his gaze wordlessly, as if she could gaze into his very soul and see whatever she wished.  
  
Tom swallowed hard and forced himself to look away, wondering if she knew the power her gaze held over him. He gave her a small bow, stepping back with a rather small nervous smile. "Well, good day, Olivia." He said, quickly turning to leave.  
  
"Good day, Tom." She said back, in a strange voice, as if holding back tears.  
  
Tom paused a moment, wondering if he should return to her side, wanting to somehow comfort her, but not knowing how. He paused in his steps with his back to her, biting his lower lip and closing his eyes a moment with a sigh. No, going back would only bring eventual trouble. Gathering his will, he forced himself to continue on his way, leaving Olivia as alone as one could ever be, although she was on a ship surrounded by men, staring out to sea.  
  
Olivia sighed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and furiously wiping her eyes. She had felt perfectly fine before she spoke to Tom, only a bit worried about getting home but hardly dwelling on it. Now she was confused, lonely, and homesick. That man had in one brief conversation had turned her inside out. She frowned, it was certainly not what she expected, but at least he had spoken to her without hurting himself for once. Therefore, Olivia categorized the conversation as a small victory and certainly a step in the right direction. Drawing a deep breath and smiling to herself, she turned her gaze back to the rolling sea, humming a piece from Madame Butterfly, which eventually turned into her usual song, carrying on the wind.

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A/N: Okay so this chapter is sappy to say the least. And Tom didn't make an idiot of himself. That's no fun. Next chapter I promise you someone will make an idiot of his or herself. Cross my heart.  
  
Psycopixie: Thank you for the review. Here's an update. Do I give fast service or what?  
  
Gaeriel Palpatine: Thanks for the reviews of course. Hm... the song... it's a random song I pulled off of an opera CD I happened to be listening too when I wrote this. Chanson Boheme from Carmen. I believe Carmen is Bizet... I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment but I'm pretty sure. It's a fun song. And glad you found Aubrey with pudding on his head amusing. Hehe poor Tom... he's got it bad.  
  
Captain Jack: Yo. Even though you didn't review (haha I don't care... you reviewed when you read it like many months okay) I just have to comment. Yes, I wrote sap. And no! I won't take it back! is proud to be sappy sometimes  
  
Angel of the Night Watchers: Hello m'dear. Glad you found the pudding amusing. No, I don't believe Tom is Catholic. For one thing they never say he is in the books and they probably would have because it would be rare to see a Catholic officer in the British navy during this time period because when they got their commission they had to renounce the Pope. Whoa... I've been doing my reading can you tell? Anyway, Olivia's actually was raised Catholic but that doesn't come up in this story.... The reference to the Pope was just me referring to the Pope when I wrote the chapter. Because hey, even though I'm not Catholic I still would be horrified if I spit on the Pope and kicked him. Who wouldn't? Unless they're like... evil. And I updated. Are you proud?  
  
Please review. I like reviews. They make me feel important and big.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
Weeks continued to pass as the Surprise made her way up the coast and Tom found himself becoming more and more accustomed to Olivia's presence. However, as he became closer to her, it was odd that he should become more uncomfortable. He hated that he could not help his feelings towards her, and never being one who could judge a woman's mood, he had no idea if she had the slightest of warm feelings in return. Not that he would act upon them, which would surely only bring trouble. But, there was the matter on when the Surprise returned home, and if she was still with them, he could pursue her then, or at least attempt to do so.  
  
However, her future was most uncertain. He had questioned the Captain earlier of what should be done with Miss Corin. Captain Aubrey apparently had not given much thought to the matter at the time, and had not given a clear answer. There was a small part of Tom that dearly hoped she would return to England with them. She was not really much trouble, aside from occupying the Captain's cabin, which she would often leave for lengths of time to allow the Captain his privacy and use of them once more. Olivia was also some small help to the Doctor. While not knowing a great deal about complex medicine she could wrap bandages and knew a surprising amount about how to tend small injuries, sprains, cuts and so forth, and would sit with patients to provide comfort and company. Olivia had told him she was happy to assist the Doctor, "At least now I have something to do besides sitting around going off into my own little world and singing all day." She had said. "I was going positively crazy." While doing her small work in sick berth, she still had plenty of time to converse with Tom, which found he was quite glad she did.  
  
Tom was reflecting upon all this at dinner with the Captain, Doctor, Captain Howard, several other offices, and of course Miss Corin. The conversation around him grew quite jovial as the evening progressed. They had recently traded with some natives, who had given them a great supply of a quite interesting native beverage. Quite strong stuff actually, which they decided must be made of corn somehow. Olivia appeared to be quite fond of it, declaring it tasted (if you could indeed call the sensation that) much like a native beverage from her home or made nearby, "moonshine". She had downed several glasses of it, and her mood was increasingly bright and her laugh increasingly loud. Of course, that could be said for most of the men as well, but in Olivia's case it was much more evident. He had lost count of how much exactly she had drunk, but he was sure she was pushing her limits.  
  
Toasts were being made, and on a night like this there could be several. After one Olivia, being clearly relaxed by her drink made a comment as she poured yet another cup. "You know, I have a cousin, a really boring girl really, she just sits around and tells me how inappropriate I am, who says that alcohol is the root of all evil, and the source of all sin, and that I will burn in Hell for my sinful, evil ways, of drinking and dancing and singing on the Sabbath." She said quite seriously. "Of course, this may be because people can't stand to speak to her unless they've had a few drinks, and the last time I saw her I told her she could kiss my-"  
  
"Miss Corin, I do believe this is another one of your stories that goes too far." Tom interrupted, not liking where she was going with this story, and sure she would never speak so freely if not for the drink.  
  
"You didn't let me finish Tom!" Olivia protested. "She could kiss my bottle of scotch! Maybe then if she were drunk she might have some personality to speak of."  
  
It was not so much her story as the absurd exasperations in her voice, and the idea of an extremely proper woman getting quite drunk, and of course the fact that Olivia was quite drunk herself, as were the rest of them, that the group found quite amusing and the walls echoed their laughter. They Olivia wished the best of luck with that particular project, toasting her poor cousin.  
  
Tom was torn between amusement and worry over Olivia's alcohol induced behavior. He had to admit it she was quite interesting to watch when drunk, but it worried him that she was continuing to drink even though she was clearly already under its influence. Olivia seemed to not know her limit for the drink, as the others had stopped drinking long before her last cup.  
  
Finally, the meal was over, the table cleared, and they all bid good night to a very unstable Miss Corin, who shook their hands quite gravely thanking them for a lovely evening, which would have been quite charming had she been able to separate her words rather than them all coming out in one long slurred sentence. Tom suspected that she would have a rather nasty headache in the morning and would be in a much more foul mood because of it.  
  
Unable to find any rest that night, he decided to take the air on the quarterdeck. It must have been quite late, and he liked how peaceful things could seem on a calm night such as this. He was quite happy and serene standing in the cool night air, watching the dark waters sweep past, until a fast moving object lodged itself around his neck, an object smelling strongly of alcohol.  
  
"Tom! How lovely to see you this evening!" It cried. "Fancy meeting you here!"  
  
Looking down he found it was indeed Olivia that had attached herself to him, and he quickly unwrapped her arms from his neck, trying his best not to laugh, and hoping that no one saw that. "Miss Corin, I do not believe it wise for you to be up here tonight." He told her, supporting her bending knees with a firm grip.  
  
She looked at him vaguely, her voice strangely higher than usual. "Up where?"  
  
"On the quarterdeck." He replied, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"I'm on the quarterdeck? No way!" She cried in surprise, looking around, laughing quite loudly. "Wow! I am!"  
  
"Yes, you are, now come along. You ought to get back." He said, taking her arm to steady her, as her usually quite confident steps seemed to be anywhere but straight.  
  
"Tom, Tom, Tom," She said as they walked. "How'd I get here?"  
  
"I am assuming you walked." He replied, still trying not to laugh as she stumbled and would have fallen if not for Tom's grip on her arm, "Although that is difficult to believe." He commented wirily.  
  
She giggled idiotically, "No silly! I mean like, here here. Like, one minute, I'm climbing right? Then whoosh! I'm in the freakin' ocean! And it's a big ocean man! I'm talking huge! Millions and billions of fish just swimming around, you know, being fish! And like, you guys find me, and I'm all 'whoa dude, how'd you find me?' And you guys are all, 'how'd you get here?' And I'm all, 'Shit. I don't know.' Do you know, you know?"  
  
Tom had only a vague idea of what she was saying, and was more concerned with leading her back to the cabin without her falling off the ship. "No. I do not." He said, nodding to the rather amused marine guarding the Great Cabin as he opened the door.  
  
"You know what I think?" She said as he helped her through the door, for she could barely walk. "I think it was a wizard." She whispered to him.  
  
He blinked in surprise, and burst out laughing. "Oh really?"  
  
"Hell yeah!" She shouted rather loudly in his ear causing him to cringe. "Oops. I meant to whisper." She said, laughing drunkenly. "Hell yeah!" She whispered in his ear.  
  
"A wizard. Of course." Tom looked at her with amusement. "Well, goodnight Olivia. I suggest you sleep." He told her, turning to leave.  
  
"Yeah, okay, that sounds good." She said. However, she followed his steps.  
  
Tom turned and stared at her. "Where are you going?"  
  
"To bed." She replied.  
  
"Which is that way." He said, pointing.  
  
Olivia laughed, "Oh my! I'm lost!" She said, turning a bit too quickly and falling. "I've fallen and I can't get up!" She said with manic laughter.  
  
Tom held back a sigh, torn between amusement and annoyance, and helped her to her feet. "All right Miss Corin, this way."  
  
She held onto his arm until they reached her cot. "Wow. That's not far at all is it?" She said with amazement.  
  
"Think you can manage?" Tom asked, still trying not to laugh.  
  
"Yeah, I think so." She said quite seriously.  
  
"Goodnight, Olivia." He said, turning to leave.  
  
However, she caught his arm, falling forward as she did so, needing to be caught and steadied once more. "Tom! Wait!"  
  
"Yes?" He asked, making sure she was steady on her feet before letting go once more. However, this did not work because she leaned against him as soon as he let go.  
  
"I gotta tell you, Tom, I wanna tell you." She slurred, patting him on the back. "You, you're a great guy."  
  
Chuckling, he attempted to steady her, which became another failed attempt. "Why thank you Miss Corin."  
  
"I mean it! You're like, great, you're nice, and a guy, and nice, and um.... um... nice, and a stand up guy!" She said, swing her arms up in emphasis and falling backwards, needing Tom to catch an arm and pull her forward. "And I'm a fall down girl." She said, falling against him.  
  
Tom was not quite sure what to say in reply, and he felt his face grow hot once more. "Well, thank you again, I suppose." He managed as he attempted to steady her again.  
  
"See? You're so great! And I'm so drunk!" She declared.  
  
"Yes, you are indeed quite drunk." He agreed.  
  
She leaned against him once more, her arms attached around his neck. "But in the morning I'll be sober, and you'll still be wonderful." She said with a sigh.  
  
"We shall see." He replied, knowing full well in the morning she would have quite the headache. "Now, you should rest."  
  
"Before you go, Tom, you are totally the best guy I've ever known. Like, they don't like, make them like you back home, like, really." She said. "And I see now that I'm totally falling in love with you, which is like, totally weird!" She continued, her words running together. "But for some reason, totally right."  
  
"Olivia-" Tom started, but his words were quickly interrupted. Olivia stood on her toes, fell against him, and kissed him square on the lips. Not just a peck mind you, a full kiss. Tom was completely shocked and found himself returning her kiss, tasting the alcohol on her breath. He knew he should not be allowing this to happen, especially since she was completely drunk, but he did not care about propriety at the moment, he loved the way she felt in his arms and despite her dull and drunken state of mind he found himself cherishing the moment.  
  
Suddenly, she stopped, and pulled away quickly, staring at him in surprise. "What the Hell'd you do that for?" She said, and pulled back her fist, swinging with all her might at his face.  
  
It all happened so quickly poor Tom had no time to react and her punch clipped him on the nose sending him rearing backwards. He was lucky, for she was quite drunk and off balance and had in fact been aiming for his jaw but missed. Such a hit would have sent Tom to the Doctor for surgery due to his old wound from the sword slash. He stumbled, but managed to keep from falling, gripping his nose and feeling the blood begin to run. He was not sure if it was broken but it certain hurt something awful.  
  
Olivia blinked in surprise, as if she was not aware of what she had done. "Oh. I started that." She said vaguely, before crashing to the floor and falling into a drunken slumber.  
  
Tom stared down at her, still in complete shock. Slowly, he approached her, not sure if he really wanted to out of fear of another drunken punch. She was fast asleep on the floor of the cabin. He imagined if he lifted her into the hammock she would merely fall out of it again, so he covered her nicely with a blanket, glaring, for while he truly wanted to be completely angry and storm out with no regards to her, he could not but help being filled with joy. She had kissed him. Oh, she had punched him also, but the kiss was what occupied his thoughts at the moment. He could not help but wonder if she had meant what she had said, or if it was completely brought on by alcohol.  
  
He paused, touching his nose and wincing with the pain. It hurt, but he did not believe it was broken, or at least, he hoped it wasn't. It was however, bleeding, and he fetched a rag to attempt to stop it. He wondered how exactly he would explain this new injury. Telling the Captain or Doctor that a drunken woman punched him would certainly not do. Fortunately, it had stopped bleeding, although still quite sore. He sighed, leaving to retire for the night, the rag still in hand in case his nose began to bleed once more. A terrible headache had come on him and he needed to think. Olivia had once again managed to completely confuse him and he had no idea what to do now. He laid quietly, his mind turning circles, his nose quite sore, and miserably dreading tomorrow.

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A/N: Aww... she kissed him... and punched him mwahahahaha. And she got wasted hehe. Go drunken Olivia! Oh... note to people underage: Drinking is bad. Don't drink. That part of the note is for people under 18.... For people over that age (cough my fellow college students cough) If you drink, drink responsibly. And never drink and drive. Ever. And don't binge drink. That's bad too. Kills people. Okay, just covering my bases. This author does not support alcoholism in any way (looks at empty bottle on desk) Um... let me rephrase This author does not support OVER use of alcohol in any way... a drink every now and then legally bought by people over 21 (or 18 depending on where you live...) is perfectly okie-dokie. Thank you. I hope no one is offended in any way by my drunken character. But I'm sorry... it's rather amusing to me.  
  
Eldarwen99: Whoa... you reviewed like within the hour I updated chapter four.... Wow. Thanks for the review. Hope that update was quick enough for you.  
  
PsycoPixie: Thank you, thank you, my updates aim to please. Keep reviewing m'dear!  
  
Gaeriel Palpatine: Yay emotion! Thank you for your wonderful review I'm touched I brought you near tears! How exciting! Pullings and Olivia are cute aren't they? Hehe he's such a puppy, you just want to hug him and take him home and give him treats. Hope you enjoyed the drunken fun!  
  
Kayla: Wow. I'm glad you like it. is flattered Hope you continue to enjoy it! Thanks for the lovely review I was positively blushing. I hope they continued to be in character as the story goes on..... I tried anyway! ( Thanks for the lovely review, hope you enjoyed the chapter.  
  
Sillytigerlily: Is the tension built enough for you in this chapter? I love how stuff comes out when people are drunk, it's amusing. The question is... what will she remember? Mwahahahaha. I'm cruel. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the review!  
  
Angel of the Night Watchers: Thanks for the review, yes chapter four was sappy, I know, but I like sap every now and then. Just to warn you, while this chapter is funny, they aren't all going to be funny. Where's the fun in NOT torturing characters hm? Am I foreshadowing here? I'll stop. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story anyway (  
  
Please review! I love reviews! They make me happy! They really do! Just ask Mr Bimbo the man who lives in my finger..... whoa I have watched Muppet Treasure Island one too many times this week.... isn't that right Mr Bimbo? 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Olivia did not appear on deck at all the next day, pleading illness. Apparently she had quite the headache, and Tom could not help but smirk just a little. His smirk was quickly wiped off his face when the Doctor inquired after the terrible bruised state of his nose. He had stuttered out an excuse, a simple accident, nothing more, he assured the Doctor he was in no pain, and quickly excused himself from the Doctor's company, finding reasons to be occupied for the rest of the day.

When Olivia did not come out the next morning Tom decided to see her. He was mostly tired of waiting to talk with her about what had happened. Before he had been dreading it, but now he found waiting for the inevitable conversation was even more nerve-racking and irritating.

He found Olivia appearing quite well, sitting at the window looking quite comfortable. She looked up when he came in, smiling. "Good morning." She greeted.

"Good morning." He returned her greeting. "How are you feeling? I heard you were ill." He said, not being able to help his smirk.

Olivia sighed, "Oh, I surely had too much to drink, and suffered the consequences." She looked up at him with concern. "The worse thing is I can't remember a thing. I hope I didn't do anything too stupid."

Tom felt his mouth fall open and quickly shut it. "You... you don't remember anything at all?" He asked, staring at her in shock.

"Not a thing." She replied. "Why? Oh no! I did something!" She exclaimed with concern, rising to her feet.

"Well..." Tom drifted off, unsure of how exactly to explain.

"What? What did I do?" She asked, worriedly. "I didn't tell the Captain he looked like a rabid three-legged spider-monkey on pot did I?"

"No- what?" He looked at her quizzically, wondering where that came from and what on earth it meant.

She smiled faintly, "Never mind. That was just what I called someone last time I was completely and hopelessly drunk. So I've been told anyway." She shook her head, "But don't change the subject! What did I do?"

Tom paused, not exactly sure how to explain what had happened. She really had no idea that she had kissed him.

"Tom, what happened to your nose?" She asked, her voice filled with dread.

He just looked at her, watching the vague understanding cross her face.

"Oh no. Did I do that?" She asked, wide eyed with concern.

"Yes. You did." He said, touching it tenderly.

"Oh I am so sorry Tom!" She apologized quite sincerely. "Really I am! I am such a horrible drunk! I really should never be allowed to touch the stuff. I don't know my limits at all! I'm hopeless completely hopeless! Oh Tom, I hope it doesn't hurt much."

He smiled weakly at her rambling apologies. "You were not yourself." He told her. "I will not hold a grudge." He obviously was not saying what he wanted to say, and she could plainly tell he was holding something back from her, but since she had no memory of her actions, perhaps he could merely pretend it had never happened. "Well, I suppose I ought to take my leave. Good day Miss Corin." He turned to leave, but she stopped him.

"Tom!" She caught his arm, an action that surprised him and he turned to meet her eyes. She paused, as if attempting to find the right words to say to him, finally she seemed to give up and instead of speaking, she moved closer, and as if acting before she could convince herself not to, she kissed him.

Tom was completely taken by surprise, yet again. She had a way of doing that to him and he found it rather unsettling at times. However, this kiss was different from the previous. For one thing Olivia was not drunk and was completely aware of what she was doing, which helped considerably. He quickly recovered from the initial shock and found himself returning the kiss. He was aware of what this could start, and what this kiss could mean, but at the moment he found himself simply not caring about propriety. He never wanted this moment to end, pulling her closer in his arms, surprised at the strength he found in such a small form. When they finally broke apart they were quite breathless.

Olivia looked up, meeting his eyes quite calmly, a smile creeping across her lips. "That's what I thought." She said simply. "What now?"

Tom sighed, turning from her a moment to gaze out the window, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. After a moment of silence he regained control of his voice. "A ship is no proper place to court, Olivia."

Olivia approached him, searching his face and then gazing out as well. "I've not exactly what you would call normal or proper, Tom." She pointed out.

Tom chuckled softly, "I would say, I've never known a proper lady who had such a powerful punch."

Olivia grinned, "You think that was bad? You should fight me sober. I'm not above kicking below the belt."

He laughed and turned to face her, smiling, "Remind me never to make you angry, Miss Corin." He said, teasingly.

"Then don't change the subject." She replied firmly, with a small hint of a smirk in her eyes.

Tom took her hand in his own, "I am in no position to marry at present." He told her earnestly. "I have not the means to support a family."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about marriage?" She asked. "Tom, I'm not exactly in a position to marry anyone either! I'm far from home with no idea how I got here! I'm so out of place, and alone. If not for your company..." She trailed off as her thoughts overwhelmed her. "I don't know what I would do without you, Tom. I feel like I have to completely pretend around everyone on board but you. Tom, I-" She sighed, frustrated, lost for words. "I don't know, all I know is that when I'm with you I feel.... I feel comforted somehow. And there are all these feelings swarming around, feelings that I don't quite understand myself. It's almost as if I'm supposed to be with you, like it's, I don't know, fate or something. It's almost as if you're the reason I found myself floating in the ocean without a clue how I got there. As if something wanted me to be here, with you." She shook her head, looking away. "I know it sounds ridiculous."

Tom took his free hand and gently turned her face back towards him. Their eyes met and he kissed her once more. "When we come to port, I will court you properly." He promised. "And we shall see how it does, I suppose."

"But what about now? Are you courting me improperly?" She asked innocently, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

He smiled at her amusement and took both her hands. "Unofficially courting, I suppose. Unofficially and quietly of course, as I doubt an officer courting a woman on board would be smiled upon, especially since Captain Aubrey despises having women aboard." He pointed out. "They have a tendency to cause trouble on ships, you see." He explained, turning slightly red and hoping he had not offended her.

"I'd say I've caused enough trouble for you." She said with a laugh.

Tom grinned, kissing her hand. "And I am grateful for it."

Olivia paused, a curious expression crossing her face. "I am glad I turned up here." She said finally. She nodded, as if coming to a decision. "Truly, I am."

Tom paused a moment, he wanted to say so much to her, but had never been good at finding words. His mind was spinning with all that had just happened, and he knew that it would soon be his watch and he ought to leave. Finding the will power to do so however was proving difficult. "Well, I best bid you good day." He said, giving her a small bow. "Stay well, Miss Corin." He said with teasing formality, kissing her hand once more.

She attempted to keep a straight face, but gave up and laughed merrily. "Good day, Mr. Pullings." She replied.

He turned to leave, but looked back at her when she called out to him. "Oh! And Tom!"

"Yes?" He asked.

"Next time I'm drinking too much, give me a kick will you?" She teased him. "I'd hate to give you another black eye or break your poor nose."

He laughed, "Next time, Olivia, I'll be better prepared." He assured her. "Good day." He turned and left the Great Cabin, unable to keep from smiling. He felt so wonderfully happy he simply could not contain himself. He felt like a schoolboy with his first love, and held back the desire to whistle and sing. He could not however, keep the smile from his face.

He passed the Captain on deck and saluted him politely with his usual greeting. Captain Aubrey, who had been walking in the opposite direction as Pullings, turned and gave him a second look. He wondered why exactly the man was so pleased and was about to question him when Miss Corin appeared, also seeming to be oddly pleased.

"Good day Miss Corin." Jack greeted. "Shall the Doctor expect you in sick-berth today?" He asked politely.

She continued to smile, "Yes sir, I had promised the Doctor I would sit with his patients today." She told him. "I just thought I'd get a bit of air quickly before I went."

"Well, I would not want to keep you then." He told her, still wondering with a frown why she also seemed so pleased as she bid him good day and continued on her way.

Then he saw her exchange glances and a smile with Tom Pullings, and watched him stare after her as she went. Jack shook his head with a frown as the realization hit him. Muttering to himself he went to make use of his cabin while Miss Corin was with Stephen. "Honestly, is this a ship in his majesty's navy or a damn pleasure yacht?" He grumbled, annoyed that Pullings should even think of behaving in such a manner. Still, he could not help but smile at the younger man's obvious affections, and he also could not help but feel glad that she seemed to return them. The poor man was at such a loss around women, and the great scar across his face did not help matters. He hoped that Pullings would have the sense to be discreet and not act too inappropriately.

Jack smiled to himself, wondering what Sophie would make of this, and decided to take the time that he should spend on official documents, to write her. He was quite certain she would be pleased for Tom, and perhaps amused by all the unfortunate, but rather amusing accidents that happened to befall while poor Mr. Pullings was in Miss Corin's company. With a fond smile, he began to write his dear wife.

* * *

A/N: All together now: Awwwwwwwwww "Tom and Olivia sittin in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Hm... unless I think of a better way to break this up you guys are in store for another short chapter then a reeeaaaallly long one. Maybe I'll figure out how to break it up. When I wrote this I just wrote. I didn't think of chapters because to be honest I never thought I'd post it or finish it... which I kinda still haven't really but I'm very very close.

Gaeriel Palpatine: Haha so we've established Pullings is a puppy. I think lots of guys are puppy. Like in Pirates, Will Turner is very much a puppy. He's Elizabeth's puppy. Pullings is Olivia's puppy. And Obi-Wan in episode one is just a puppy in general... Qui-Gon's puppy mainly but in a different way... as always, thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

MusicBoxDancer: So sorry I didn't have that scene you wanted. I wrote this part of the story months and months ago you see.... I think this part was written in February or March... or maybe even January... it has been a while. Anyway, that was a good idea and him seeing the doctor was kind of in there.... Unfortunately the good, kind, and noble Doctor (haha yes Jack I am building my ego if you're reading other people's messages for some odd reason) is not really a main character in this story. He's in there. Just not a whole lot. My main focus is Pullings because he has a name that's funny. Glad you liked the last chapter and hope you enjoy this one too ï 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

More time went by and Olivia found herself spending less time worrying about getting home, and more time with Tom Pullings. Their "unofficial courtship" as he had called it was quite possibly her best relationship yet. She hated that most of her dates had the maturity level of an eight-year-old and thought that calling her 'baby' would constitute as romantic and spend the rest of the time trying to 'score'. For some reason or another, Olivia had the worst luck with relationships. But Tom was different. She was not sure if it was because this was 200 years in the past, but he was so respectful and well, chivalrous she supposed would best describe it. Since they could not exactly make out of the quarterdeck, most of their time spent together was in conversation. He told her stories about his father's farm, earlier adventures on the seas, and would sometimes ramble off about nautical matters that if she tried to follow him she would get a headache. When that happened he would laugh and merely say, "But I forget, I am speaking to an American mountaineer" or something close to that effect, and would change the subject. Olivia would tell stories, often-modified stories, of her life as well. She was beginning to feel rather guilty about not telling him the truth of her home, and was often tempted to tell him, but always talked herself out of it. As much as she felt for Tom, she doubted he would believe her. After all, it was a pretty far fetched story, and if someone showed up on her doorstep back home saying they were from 200 years into the future or past she would have called them crazy and suggested they get their head checked.

Tom, while still curious as to how she came to be there, did not question her on the subject anymore. He believed that if she knew anything, surely she would tell him, and went on spending time with her as if in a parlor of some fine house, chatting away happily whenever he had the chance. He was beginning to wonder if he should ask her to marry him, not now of course, but when they reached port. He was shy on the matter however, remembering her previous opinions of marriage. Not to mention the uncertainty of the whole situation, and he had not known her a terribly long time, though he felt as if he'd known her forever. He had never felt more at ease with anyone in his life than when he was with Olivia.

He was pondering on this early one morning as he stood watch on the quarterdeck. The sun was just beginning to creep into the sky as first light hit the ship and waters. Tom looked into his glass, gazing to the east. He could make the faint outlines of the South American coast, the mountains looming in the far distance. They were not close enough to be seen with the naked eye, but were an impressive sight through the glass, rising out of the morning mist. He took the glass from his eye, considering for a moment. The sight made him think even more of Olivia and how she missed her own mountains. He wondered if it would do her well to see these foreign ones from the distance. Finally, Tom decided that she would enjoy seeing the mountains, she had said before she always wished to see new places after all. However, he imagined the Captain would not appreciate him leaving his watch, even for a moment, on such a frivolous task, so he called for young Blakeney, who was not far from him.

"Would you be so kind as to wake Miss Corin and ask her if she would please join me on the quarterdeck for a moment Mr. Blakeney?" He said to the young man. "There is something she would most certainly wish to see."

Young Lord Blakeney nodded, he was quite cheerful so early in the morning, "Certainly sir." He said, heading off towards the cabin to wake Olivia. When he returned he looked rather amused and went straight to Tom, "Well sir, she's awake and she says she'll be along shortly." He hesitated before continuing his message, fighting a grin. "She also says you best have a good reason for waking her so early, sir."

Tom tried not to laugh. "Did she? And what else did Miss Corin have to say?"

The boy hesitated, pondering on this. "She may not be in the best of moods sir, for when I went to wake her she mumbled, rolled over and flipped clear out of her cot, bumping her head on the way down causing a bit of a gash. She also uttered some words, which I ought not repeat and cursed the inventor of the hammock. She then thanked me most kindly and, still sitting on the floor mind you, sent me on my way. I do hope she is all right."

"I am sure she is. Miss Corin is surprisingly stronger than one might expect." He said, wincing as he remembered being on the wrong side of her fist. "Thank you Mr. Blakeney." Tom said, sending the boy on his way.

Olivia soon appeared on the quarterdeck, looking tired and quite unhappy. Tom tried not to grin seeing the gash on her forehead, presumably where she hit it falling from her cot. "Good morning Miss Corin. Whatever happened here?" He asked, indicating her forehead.

She raised a hand to her forehead. "Don't ask." She replied.

Tom nodded knowingly, "Yes, a hammock on calm waters can be most dangerous."

Olivia glared at him, as he held back his laughter. "You- I- Blakeney told you?"

Tom merely nodded, still attempted not to laugh and turning quite red with effort.

Olivia raised her head defiantly, "Oh hush. Pudding and ladders can be traitorous too you know." She said, reminding him of all the clumsy misfortunes he had met in her company. This stopped his laughter quite nicely. "Now, what on Earth is so important that you had to wake me at such a miserably early hour?"

Tom raised an eyebrow. "The sun is rising, it is not that earlier."

"It is if you're used to waking at a human hour, like say nine or ten?" She exclaimed with exasperation, causing Tom to laugh at her once more. "You morning people make me sick." She said with a sigh, yawning. "Now what is it?"

Tom directed her closer to the rail, smiling, knowing she would be pleased. He handed her his glass, receiving a look of confusion from Olivia. "Look." He instructed. She hesitantly took it from him, still bewildered. "Look. Go on!" He urged.

She did so, gazing slightly to far up to see the distant mountains. "What am I looking for?" Olivia asked.

Tom knowingly moved the glass down so she would be looking straight across the waters to the east. She gave a small gasp, which told him she saw the mountains. "That." He said simply, smiling, pleased that she seemed so happy.

"Tom-" She started, but her voice seemed to fade away. She finally lowered the glass turning to him, smiling happily. "I had no idea that seeing mountains again would make me so happy, how did you know?"

He grinned sheepishly, "I had no idea. I merely thought they would remind you of home." He told her honestly.

"They do." She said, glancing at them again. "And yet they don't." She shrugged. "I don't know, but they're so different, but that does not bother me. It's exciting really." She smiled up at him, the sleepiness gone from her eyes and instead they sparkled with excitement. "Did you know I've never seen a mountain range other than the one I live in?" She asked. "It's so different! But somehow, still the same." She laughed, once again looking to the coast. "I'm rambling again though, aren't I?"

He merely smiled, "Has that ever stopped you before?" He teased.

She turned to him once more, still smiling. "I know I ought to be insulted, but you started my day so well I would hate for it to go sour. So I'll ignore that comment." She handed him back his glass. "Thank you Tom. It was worth being woken for."

"And hitting your head?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes, "That too, I suppose. Should I expect you for breakfast?"

"I will be a while yet." He said.

"Good. I can go back to sleep." She said with a grin.

"Olivia, I insist you see the Doctor for your head." Tom protested.

Olivia sighed, "It's just a bump."

"It's bleeding." He pointed out. "Actually, it is bleeding harder than before."

"No. At first it was really bleeding, but I put some pressure on it and it all but stopped. Besides, it's quite small." She argued, frowning at the very idea of seeing the doctor for it.

He sighed, glancing at her forehead, wondering why she was so stubborn and quickly found her a cloth to hold to the wound. "Olivia, the cut is nearly an inch long, and is starting to bleed once more. Do not make me have marines escort you to sick-berth." Tom had to admit he sounded more concerned than threatening.

Olivia caught this and laughed, raising an eyebrow. "You wouldn't dare."

Tom smiled, "Do not tempt me." He said. "I am sure the cut is fine, as you said, but I doubt the Captain, or Killick for that matter, will appreciate you bleeding all over his cabin." He told her. "What did you hit it on that created such a cut?"

"No idea. I took a wild swing in that hammock." She said. "Next time, come down yourself and shake my arm so if I swing you can keep me from falling."

Tom laughed, "If you wish me too." He said. "Now, get to sick-berth. The Doctor was up early to make his rounds."

"Oh boy." Olivia muttered, unhappily. She hated having people fuss, so she hated being a patient, and her displeasure was quite evident as she appeared in sick-berth.

Doctor Maturin looked at her forehead and determined it would be fine as soon as it stopped bleeding, though it would need a bandage for the moment, and would most likely leave a scar. Olivia had not at all reacted with the worry he had expected, merely shrugging at this news and saying "Oh neat. A memento." Stephen had thought that a woman would be most unhappy with a scar on her forehead, but it did not seem to bother Olivia in the least.

Padeen had held a bandage in place to stop the bleeding for a while, but she sent him away, holding it herself, and settling next to a man named Smith who had lost his leg recently in an accident. She was quite cheerfully chatting with the man, who was pleased to have her company.

"And what happened here Miss?" He asked, as the Doctor appeared to check to see if her forehead had indeed stopped bleeding yet.

"Just a bump and a stupid accident on my part." She said, cringing as the Doctor touched the wound. "Nothing to worry about."

"I believe, Miss Corin, that I am the Doctor." Maturin said, amused. "Well, you are quite right. You are in no real danger, the bleeding has stopped, but do keep the cut clean. An infection would be most unfortunate. I am quite certain that soon the cut will be only a mere scar." He told her. "I see no reason to keep you here any longer, you may leave at your leisure my dear." He smiled kindly.

Olivia smiled, "Thank you Doctor." She said, as he continued to check on his other patients.

"Shame to leave a mark on a pretty face." Smith said.

Olivia turned her attention to him, "Oh I don't know. I think scars are quite interesting really."

Smith made an odd sort of laugh, "Of course you do." He commented.

Olivia's usually kind gaze suddenly turned quite sharp. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

The man smiled, a smile, which did not quite seem right to Olivia. "Not a thing Miss Corin." He said, although his tone said otherwise. "Not a thing. You were saying about scars Miss?"

Olivia hesitated, not sure if she really wanted to continue her conversation anymore. Smith's comment had quite caught her off guard and was full of suggestion. It was as if he knew about her interesting relationship with Tom. She had of course, noticed Tom's scar before, it being rather hard to miss, and had asked him about it once, he merely told her it was an old wound where a sword had caught him, but told her nothing more in the way of details. He seemed quite self-conscious of it really, and so she did not press him any further.

"I was merely saying that I find them interesting." She said slowly. "They tell stories. Look." She rolled up her sleeve a bit, showing a small skinny scar on her arm. "That is where my brother and I decided we could fly and jumped off the roof as children. I decided at the last minute it was a bad idea and made a grab for the house, breaking a window and sending glass everywhere. My brother of course, ran away as soon as he saw I was hurt, not wanting to get into trouble." She said, fondly remembering the event. "This one here?" She pointed to another scar on her hand. "I burned it when I decided I would cook my Grandmother dinner for her birthday when I was eight." She shrugged. "This one." She said touching her forehead gently. "Will be when I foolishly rolled over in a cot at sea and bumped my head."

Smith laughed merrily. "Did you now?"

"I most certainly did, and I would appreciate you not sharing that information freely." She said with a smile.

Smith grinned, amused. "I will take it to the grave, Miss."

"Good. Then I shall expect you to hold it for quite some time." She said returning his smile. However, she was still troubled by his earlier comment and guarded her comments very closely.

She continued to chat with the Doctor's patients until Tom, apparently off his watch, came down to see how she did. This was not surprising considering she was in his charge, but Olivia thought she saw a smirk on Smith's face that reminded her of a look her friends would have given her. The look made her quite uncomfortable, and made her realize that it was impossible to keep secrets on this ship.

Tom however, did not notice the man's smirk, and smiled at Olivia. "How are you feeling?" He asked with concern.

"Well enough thank you." Olivia said, quickly standing to join him. She turned and bid good day to the men she had been speaking with and left sick-berth with Tom. "We should talk." She said, the minute they were out of hearing range.

Tom blinked, surprised. "Is something amiss?" He asked as they headed to the Great Cabin to talk.

Olivia did not reply, but her expression was clearly one of concern. As soon as they reached the cabin Olivia spoke. "I think they know." She said, keeping her voice low to prevent anyone from hearing her on the quarterdeck.

Tom stared at her, confused, "Who knows what?" He asked.

She sighed, batting a stray strand of hair behind her ear, something Tom noticed she only did when nervous or agitated. "About us Tom. I think the crew knows."

Tom blinked he was not expecting her to say that. "Whatever makes you think that?" He asked, he had been careful to remain quite proper and professional when with Olivia on deck. When he came to see her in the cabin he always made sure they were not alone too long and never went further than a mere kiss.

She hesitated, as if the thoughts were forming in her head. "Some comments Mr. Smith made led me to believe that he knew how fond I am of you. I don't want anything to... what?" She stopped when she noticed the look Tom was giving her.

He smiled, taking her hand in his own. "You're fond of me?"

"Tom! You know that!" She exclaimed. "And quit changing the subject! I hate it when you do that."

"Olivia, dear, it's merely gossip I am sure. You are the only woman these men have seen in months, and you being my charge, I am the one who sees the most of you in private. I would be surprised if they were not talking." He assured her, bringing her hand to his lips.

Olivia grinned because she loved it when he did that. It was one of those chivalrous things that girls from her time melted for. She could almost here some of her friends "aw" with delight. "But this time the gossip is true." She pointed out.

"I doubt we have done half of what they say we've done." Tom said, though as soon as the words came out he turned red. "My apologies m'dear, my coarse way of talking got the best of me."

Olivia laughed, putting her arms around his neck, allowing him to draw her closer. "I've heard worse, believe me. Besides, you turn such an adorable shade of red."

Tom laughed, "I am most certainly not adorable." He protested. "I doubt I would even qualify for handsome with this retched scar." His voice turned quite bitter at this point and his words harsher than intended and he turned his face away feeling suddenly self-conscious of his appearance.

Olivia looked at him with concern and gingerly ran a finger across the old sword-slash. Tom marveled at the lightness of her touch and returned his gaze to hers. "Tom, you really think that matters one bit to me? I adore you." She said earnestly.

Tom smiled, "Oh, so adore me is it? And I thought you were merely fond of me." He said, kissing her lightly.

"I suppose I cannot help but adore you." She replied sweetly.

Tom laughed again, "Well Olivia, my dear, I am quite glad of it." He said with a wide grin, making him look like a happy little schoolboy, causing Olivia to laugh as well.

"See? How could I not adore you?" She said, still giggling. "You make me laugh just by looking at me."

"I think you are very easily amused." Tom commented, still smiling. "And I best take my leave of you, or I will add to the talk."

Olivia nodded, giving him a quick kiss before releasing him. "I will see you tonight." She said as he left, watching him go with a happy smile playing at her lips.

* * *

A/N: Okay so this chapter was basically... nothing. They're getting closer.. awww... and the crew knows of course. Hehe they gossip like girls. I honestly thought I updated last week and then realized... um... oops... I hadn't! So here it is! TADA!!!!! Sorry about that...

R E Rakel: Haha yes I remember you! You're funny! Hi! Hehe thanks for reading this story. That makes me happy. I hope the loony bin is being nice to you because you're not in my closet... though my closet at home is freakin huge it's filled with school junk. Though someone could probably be right comfortable in there because I'm sure there's food somewhere buried in all that junk. If you're watching me then you must be really bored because um... yeah. Anyway! Thanks for the review and it's nice to hear from you again!

Gaeriel Palpatine: Haha am I going to have to stick Olivia on you for drooling over her man? She obviously likes his scar too... hehe. Thanks for the review m'dear!

PippenPirate: Haha you don't see Jack resembling a three-legged spider monkey on pot? Actually that's a really old inside joke from 10th grade biology that I randomly put in there. The person that joke was with I haven't heard from in like.... Five years and I randomly thought of it the day I wrote that chapter. Go figure. Please don't eat Bonden... if you're drooling like Homer you have me worried because he normal drools over food. Thanks for reviewing as always!

Calliope-Elven-Agent: I'm glad you're "wubbling" my story! Hehe! And sure... Tom's scar can make him look manly. Personally I think it makes him look like a James Bond villain or something. Can you see that? Haha I sort of can but not the way he behaves in this story... Love you for reviewing! Thanks!

Starkeeper: Yeah... didn't really update faster that time. Hope you didn't go insane. I'm glad you think Olivia seems real. Really. I was worried she was superwoman Mary-Sueish even for a random unexplained time travel story. I'm so glad you're enjoying this and hope you still are! Thanks a bunch!

Sillytigerlily: Haha your reviews crack me up. I'm reviewing your reviews. Haha whoo! Anyway, thanks for making me crack up. Keep in mind between the drunk scene and the next one there was a day, so she had a day of being hung-over. Haha and of course she cured it by kissing Tom. Who can blame her? The boy is a puppy! In a good way of course. Who doesn't like puppies? The really long chapter is next so thanks for hanging in there! Sorry to make you wait on this one and thanks for the amusing reviews!

Jack Aubrey: I now know you are reading without reviewing because you just said so like two minutes ago. (poke) How rude. Okay so I'm just as guilty as you are. Stop looking at me like that. Stop it! (poke) Oh yeah I can't be mad at you because you have gauze shoved up your mouth. Hope your face heals really fast! I'll keep Pullings in the hold until you can eat solid foods again, so don't worry, your pudding is safe!


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Tom now felt he had much to consider. He sorely wanted to ask if she would consider marrying him when they reached port, but was afraid of the answer. What if she said no? No one enjoyed rejection, and Tom was equally aware that if she truly did not want to marry him then it would become quite awkward between them for the rest of the journey. Torn in two and frustrated, Tom admitted to himself that he lacked the courage to ask the question. He had never been one for fancy words, and had a tendency to slip into a much courser way of speech at times. Besides, would he be able to support a wife? Not to mention if they started a family, that would surely be costly. Thinking on it though, Olivia did not seem to be a woman who needed jewels and great wealth, and surely his pay and prize money, God willing should they take a prize, would be enough to set her up in a small cottage somewhere. Perhaps in a village with a naval community of other wives to keep her company when he was gone? But would she enjoy the company of those women? Olivia seemed to have her own way of going about things, and some extremely peculiar habits.

The other issue that presented a problem was whether or not Olivia would even want to go to England at all. The Captain had never told Tom what he intended to do with her, but perhaps she would want to return to Virginia? But would she want to return if she had a reason to go elsewhere? And would he be enough reason to never see her home again? He sighed, hating that he could not read into her thoughts and know what she would say before asking the question.

He pondered on these troubled thoughts for the rest of the day and into the evening. At the Captain's table that night he watched as Olivia, seated beside him laughed cheerful at the anecdotes of those at the table. She seemed to notice however, that Tom was not himself, and kept giving him looks of concern, though thankfully saw it best not to raise any questions. Tom was still debating whether or not he should bring up marriage to her. He wished he were a more bold man, one who was not cursed with such diffidence when it came to putting himself forward. He never understood that, he was a confident man in regards to sailing and storming an enemy deck, but Olivia had a way of unsettling him, and even though it had been a time since he did anything completely foolish in her company and he was much more comfortable around her, he still was unsure of how she would react to a marriage proposal and the unknown prospect frightened him and took away what confidence he may otherwise have.

He watched as Olivia told Dr. Maturin of a creature called a raccoon that she found particularly troubling at times, the Doctor was quite interested in her description of the animal and continued to ask her questions in that curious manner he had when hearing of wildlife and such. While listening to her speak and explain how raccoons could be particularly cunning, Tom continued to debate with himself. What would he say? He began to run words through his head but none of them seemed to fit. Oh how he longed to be more poetic!

The meal was over and Tom found himself standing on the deck watching the men in their own festivities. He had been so lost in thought that he almost had not realized he had followed the rest out of the Great Cabin. The men were quite enthusiastic in their dancing and singing that night. Tom suspected it was that they were trying to impress Olivia, who seemed to be quite pleased with the festivities.

Finally she looked at him, "Are you all right?" She asked quietly.

Tom nodded, giving her an unconvincing smile. "Yes of course." He replied.

Olivia gave him a look that clearly showed she did not believe him, but did not ask any further and turned her attention back to the dancing. Finally, the activity died down, and Olivia bid them all good night and retired to the cabin.

Tom had an early watch, and attempted to sleep, but instead of doing so his mind was turning circles. He ran over what he would say to Olivia in regards to marriage, but threw out every word, believing he sounded quite stupid. Sighing, he wondered if it was a good idea at all. He shook his head, he was never bold in personal matters, for once in his life he was going to have to overcome his often-timid nature and come out and ask her. If not, he knew he would regret it forever. He would however, have to wait until the opportunity presented itself. Sighing, he rose to go on deck. His watch would be soon, and he could not sleep so he may as well get air.

It was a quiet early morning, quite still and almost eerily calm. The sun was not up yet and Tom found the quarterdeck quite silent and as lonely as it could ever get. He nodded to Calamy and told him he would take the last hour. He may as well, seeing as how he was up already. He had only been there for a short time when he was surprised to see Olivia appear on the quarterdeck.

"Hello Tom." She greeted, smiling and moving to stand next to him.

He returned her smile, "You're up early." He commented to her.

She shrugged, "Actually I'm up late."

"You could not sleep either?" He asked curiously.

"No." She replied, shaking her head. "I don't know why, do you ever lie awake thinking so much that you never manage to get to sleep?"

Tom smiled knowingly, "Yes. That can be troublesome." He knew the feeling, it was the exact thing that kept him up tonight.

"You had something on your mind tonight. And don't tell me you didn't because you were curiously silent. What was wrong?" She asked bluntly.

Tom sighed, building up his courage. He supposed now was as good a time to ask as any, and if he didn't ask soon he would never get any sleep. Besides, they were relatively alone at the moment. "Olivia, I have been meaning to talk with you."

Olivia raised an eyebrow, "About what?" She asked.

"Well, I- that is to say- well..." He trailed off, trying to find words.

"Tom, just say it." She said, smiling encouragingly.

He took a deep breath, feeling his face turn red once more. "Olivia, I am wondering if... well... I know I am hardly a perfect man, and I cannot make you particularly rich, but I would do my best to see that you are happy, and it would most certainly please me if you would accept."

Olivia stared at him, confused. "What are you trying to tell me?"

He sighed, frustrated at his clumsy words. All the rehearsed speeches in his mind had flown out of his head. "I was wondering if, when we reach port of course, if you would consider, if you would have me that is, if you would-"

"Tom." She said, her eyes widening in surprise. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

He turned a deep shade of red and looked down, quite ashamed of his clumsy proposal. "Yes, I am." He looked up, meeting her eyes. "If you will have me."

Olivia looked completely shocked, her mouth fell open and she did not reply. She seemed completely caught off guard. She looked away, as if her mind were pouring over his words. Tom watched her, as if standing on eggshells, waiting for a response.

Finally, she spoke, her voice was strange, and her words did not come out with her usual confidence. "I.... I don't know."

Tom had not been expecting that. He had expected a yes or no, preferably a yes, but the uncertainty surprised him. "You don't know?" He repeated.

"I-" Olivia started, but quickly stopped herself. She seemed most distressed and bit her lip, trying to find words.

Tom looked away, her silence wounded him deeply, and he believed he knew her answer. "You say no." He said dully.

"No!" She replied. "And yes, oh Tom." She said, her distress clearly evident in her voice. "Please, I need time. That's not a decision to be made lightly, and I need to think on it."

"I see." He said, his voice suddenly cool. "Well, I should.... I should go. I have things to see to here." He stumbled over these words, clearly devastated. "Good day, Miss Corin." He said, walking away.

His formality stung her, "Tom!" She called, as he left her alone. He did not turn, for he felt he could not face her at the moment. Her answer he believed had been merely a polite refusal, and it pained him deeply. He should never have asked in the first place, and he should have known that Olivia would never marry him.

Olivia watched him go, feeling as if her legs could barely support her weight anymore. She was shaking, and close to tears. Gathering her strength she quickly returned to the cabin, and sank into a chair. Tears flowed down her cheek and she felt very small at the moment. She did not know what to do and she did not know why, but Tom's request had made her realize the unlikelihood of her ever seeing home again. Before, it was as if she was living in a dream. She was not thinking of her future or what she would do in this world, but Tom had made it real and presented her with a path that she was unsure she was prepared to take.

She loved him. That was true enough. He was a good man, and he loved her. She was lucky to have him. Would marrying him and living in this world be so bad? It would take some getting used to of course, but what was her other option? She had no way of getting back to her time, and not being particularly brilliant with science she could not explain how she got here. Perhaps it was fate? What would she do if she did not marry Tom anyway? Go and live in Virginia, but one of the past? And what if by marrying Tom she somehow damaged the timeline? Oh forget about the timeline! Perhaps she was meant to be here, she was meant to meet Tom.

Her mind swirled with possibilities and she rested her head in her hands, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes. Taking a deep breath she forced herself to forget about home and timelines and focus on one basic issue. Did she love Tom? She knew she did, but would she be a good wife? She was not sure, but life was about risks, wasn't it? She sighed, and to think that it wasn't long ago she was worried about how she was going to pay for her new sheet music!

Olivia rose and went to her hammock with a sigh, deciding to attempt to sleep once more. Part of her wanted to run to Tom telling him she would marry him at the first possible moment, and another part of her was terrified. Her confusion kept her awake, she did not know how long she laid there, only that light soon spilled through the windows. She sighed, having no real desire to rise seeing as how she had yet to fall asleep and intended to stay in bed as long as possible.

However, that plan was soon interrupted. The drum roll made her jump and she sat up a bit too quickly, having to steady herself to keep from flipping out of the hammock. The ship sprung as everyone ran about to his post, orders being shouted as the Surprise came to life. The wall separating the cabin from the rest of the deck was taken away and Olivia jumped to her feet, and stood in her place, wondering what to do.

"What's going on?" She called to a midshipman, Calamy she believed his name was. He had never so much as said a word to her besides a polite good day on the quarterdeck, but he now, after glancing around and apparently not seeing who he was looking for (Olivia suspected it was Tom, who was most likely avoiding her), crossed over to her.

"We have beat to quarters Miss. We've encountered a ship that's run up American colors." He looked at her, rather nervously. "Might I suggest you find a.... a better spot?"

Olivia nodded, "I suppose I should go to sick-berth. As safe a place as any I guess." She said with a shrug, and then turned to head off, allowing the boy to see to his duties. On her way she passed Tom, from a distance. Their eyes met and she could see his concern, she also read his expression as his 'What the bloody Hell is she doing?' expression. "Sick-berth!" She shouted over the men's voices as they prepared for what was to come.

Tom seemed to understand, and nodded his approval. He seemed to have more he wished to say, for it was evident in his eyes, and for a split second he held her gaze until he was pulled back from his reprise to his duties.

Dr. Maturin looked up as Olivia appeared. "Miss Corin, if you do not mind I believe I will need your assistance."

Olivia nodded, "Of course, whatever I can do to help." She said. "Just point me in the-" She was cut off as the whole ship seemed to shake. A terrible crack was heard above and she could hear shouting on deck. "What was that?"

"Cannon fire, my dear." The Doctor said. His voice was incredibly calm, and it somehow helped Olivia not panic as well. "If you would be so kind as to help Padeen and Mr. Higgins direct the wounded, and perhaps do what you can for them?"

Olivia nodded, feeling slightly sick to her stomach. She did not trust herself to talk for fear her voice would betray her. The entire ship seemed to shake as they returned fire and all the voices shouting seemed to bleed into one, and then the first of the wounded came.

They were like ghosts, stumbling into sick-berth among the organized chaos aboard. Olivia was frozen with horror for a moment. She had never seen injuries so gruesome. It was unreal, as if she were watching her life on a screen somewhere. She was shaken back into action by Dr. Maturin's call for more bandages. Olivia, despite the shock of what was going on around her, kept a cool head, she rushed over with the bandages and was at his side in an instant.

The Doctor looked up and seemed a bit surprised to see Olivia. In truth he had imagined the woman would not be able to stomach the scene before her, but she seemed calm enough and her hands steady. He began giving her instructions as he would with Higgins, allowing her to assist in his hasty operating. He then instructed her to go and see what she could do for the others he had not yet seen too.

Olivia, with her lack of medical knowledge could do only a little for them, but she could at least judge who needed the Doctor immediately. Unfortunately however, most did. She rushed from one to the next, directing them on where they should sit. She had them in some form of order, the most severe closer to the Doctor, so he would not waste time in pushing his way to them.

One man, whose name she did not know, reached up and grabbed her arm. She spun around and gasped. He was choking, gasping for breath, his eyes wide with panic. His skin on his throat was torn away, bleeding most horrendously. Olivia's stomach churned in horror as she saw he was choking on his own blood. She could see which artery it was pouring from, or was it a vein? She could not tell, but why was that important? He was dying! She glanced desperately around to see if there was anyone else here to help. The Doctor, Higgins, even Padeen where hopelessly occupied at the moment. With a deep breath and a shaking hand she covered the hole with her finger. She went pale with the feel of all the warm, sticky blood bubbling in his throat.

"Doctor!" She shouted, knowing that she was only buying him time. She had seen a nurse do this on ER once, and it seemed somewhat logical. Interesting and perhaps insane that she should be thinking of a TV show at a time like this.

Doctor Maturin came as soon as he could. He quickly surveyed the scene, and looked at Olivia gravely. "All right my dear, come away now."

She stared at him, confused. "What?"

He lifted her hand out of the wound calmly, and moved her a step away from the man. He then looked from the poor injured fellow to her and said softly. "There is nothing to be done for him. Perhaps had I seen to him sooner, but he has lost far too much blood and the damage is too severe." He nodded back to the man, now limp on the ground. "He's already dead."

Olivia stared in shock. She had never seen so much death, and her mind reeled trying to comprehend what was happening. The stench of death and the filth around her seemed to swarm, overwhelming her mind.

The Doctor said nothing else; he simply went back to his patients. She stared at him a moment in disbelief. How could he do this? How could anyone face this more than once? After a moment of shock, she numbly went back to work. Assisting in whatever ways she could. Her mind felt fuzzy, as if she was watching herself through a mirror. The wounded seemed to blur together and she began to think it would never end. Suddenly she noticed she had not heard the guns for some time.

"No one's firing." She commented to the Doctor as she brought him more laudanum for a patient, a man who would most certainly die, but the laudanum could relive him some of the pain. "Is it over?"

The Doctor looked up for a moment, as if first realizing the silent guns as well. "Possibly." He said. "We will know soon enough."

It must have been for those with less severe wounds began coming down. Olivia was set to the task of seeing if she could clean cuts and perhaps bandage a few on her own. The men recounted some of the battle to her as she worked but she comprehended little of what they said.

Her thoughts turned to Tom as she worked and she was filled with worry. Was he all right? Surely had he been injured he would have been down already?

'Oh Lord let him be all right!' She silently pleaded. She was feeling jittery at the moment, but her worry was completely based around Tom.

She tried her best to appear unfazed, but must have failed miserably for one of the men told her. "No worries Miss! We gave as good as we got."

She gave him a weak smile, choosing not to talk else her voice betray her and wrapped a bandage around a grazed arm. She tied it off and gathered the bandages to move on to the next man when she saw him.

Relief flooded her as she dropped the bandages clumsily. Tom seemed unhurt, though tired and absolutely filthy. Of course, she was probably equally, if not more dirty, covered in the blood and filth of multiple wounds of others.

However, none of this mattered one bit to her. She quickly worked her way through sick-berth to him, throwing her arms around his neck with no regard for who was watching. "Oh Tom!" She cried. "Thank God you're all right!"

Tom returned her embraced as best he could with the low ceiling, equally relived to see Olivia unharmed and not giving a damn who saw them or what they thought. He immediately noticed how unnerved she was, and of course she was, he imagined she had never seen anything like this before and must have been quite terrified. He rested his head against hers a moment, as comfort, not sure of what he should say. Finally, he pulled back from her a bit to glance over and make sure she was unhurt. "You were not harmed were you?" He asked with concern.

She shook her head no, a small smile appearing. "I should be asking you that." She said, some of her usual tone returning.

Tom returned her smile, pleased to hear her the gentle teasing in her voice. "Just a few minor cuts and the like. Nothing serious I assure you."

She looked in his eyes, meeting his gaze. "You're sure? Because if you're lying Thomas Pullings, so help me...."

Tom laughed softly. "Yes! I am sure! Truly!"

She nodded, taking a deep breath. "I'm just so glad to see you're all right." She said with an involuntary shudder at what could have been. "Really."

Tom was unsure as to the best way to respond to her words, so he merely met her eyes and gave her a small smile. "The Captain told me to bring you to the cabin and for you to stay there. He would like a word."

Olivia nodded, "Very well." She has no idea why the Captain wanted to speak to her, and the fact that the ship they had fought was an American vessel had completely flown her mind. Tom brought her back to the Great Cabin, where the wall separating it from the gundeck had been restored.

Tom quickly bid her farewell for the moment, apologizing that he had to help with repairs and assuring her he would return soon. He could tell that the battle had deeply shaken her, and that she did not want to be alone to muse on all that had transpired in sick-berth, but he still had to see to his duties. No matter how much he loved her, he would not allow himself to neglect the ship. His first loyalties always lay with his duty, no matter what.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so a lot of stuff happened in this chapter. Basically for those of you with short attention spans there were two things: Marriage proposal, and a battle. If you missed that then you really weren't reading carefully (poke). Okay I'm kidding. I don't care if you read carefully or not. Anyway, awww... Tom feels rejected. Everyone say aw. "AWWWWWW...."

CajunPippinPirate: Yes third base can attack. Stupid bases. I have a ton of scars because I get them so easily but I can remember where I got all of them. Except for the one on the bottom of my foot. That one is just weird. Anyway..... Hope this chapter met your expectations ï 


	9. Chapter Nine

Note: Rating is PG-13 and this chapter is why. It's just for language but I thought I'd point it out right here to be safe! I'm paranoid about offending people.

Chapter Nine

Olivia sat alone in the cabin. Her head ached and she longed for sleep. She had cleaned up as best she could, and her hands red with scrubbing, but she still felt as if they were caked in blood. It didn't help that her clothes were completely disgusting and she could not remember her last bath. She was curious as to why the Captain had called her to the cabin and then kept her waiting. She began pacing restlessly, exhausted and resorting to vocal exercises to keep from collapsing and falling asleep right on the floor. What was going on?

Finally the door opened, that Captain entered, certainly looking quite worn, with a deep gash across his brow and an equally intimidating scowl on his face. He looked at Olivia coldly, who stopped in her tracks, facing him.

"What do you know?" He demanded, without even a polite greeting or asking how she did, as he normally would have done.

Olivia stared at him, having absolutely no clue what he was talking about. "Sir?"

"Do not play coy with me madam." He said coldly. "Sit." He said, nodding to a chair curtly.

Olivia sank into the chair, not sure if she would have the energy to rise once more. She suddenly remembered that Calamy had told her the other ship was under American colors. Oh Lord, surely he didn't think she had anything to do with it? Surely he would have more sense?

He circled her like a vulture circles its pray. He seemed to be forming his questions in his mind. She'd never seen him so furious and it put her senses on alert. His footsteps echoed in her head as he circled, and she drew herself up as tall as she could in her chair, waiting for him to speak again.

Finally he spoke again, his voice dangerously low. "That ship, the Wilmington, what do you know of it?"

"The what? I don't know anything!" She exclaimed. His voice was accusing, and it frustrated her.

"What have you told them about the Surprise?" He demanded, his voice raising.

Olivia's mouth fell open and her exhaustion and frustration were overtaken with her anger. "What? Are you saying I'm a spy?" She exclaimed. "Oh that's wonderful. Just how exactly do you think I'm sending them messages? Just giving them a call perhaps, hopping on over there while your damn ship is blowing up? Email? SMOKE SIGNALS PERHAPS??"

"I do not know the logistics of it, but I know you are somehow involved." He said, his voice also rising in anger.

"Oh that's the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard!" She shouted back completely losing her temper. Before she was annoyed, now she was outraged. She was sitting here, her clothes caked in his crew's blood from her attempts to help them, and he had the nerve to accuse her of spying!

"Madam, control you temper." He demanded, obviously doing his best to keep from losing his own.

"Control my temper? CONTROL MY GOD DAMN TEMPER?" She exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "You're the dumbass coming up with the retarded theories!"

His face darkened, and the glare she was getting would have frightened her if she was not so outraged. "Hold your tongue Miss, or lose it." He warned.

Olivia sat, still glaring. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "I would love to know how you came to this conclusion, sir." The 'sir' sounded sarcastic, and she was speaking through her teeth in order to not yell.

"What other conclusion would you have me reach? You have told me nothing of how you got here." He pointed out firmly. "Do you expect me to believe that an American woman just appears out of no where and just happens to be rescued by my ship, and we then just happen to be fired upon by an American?"

Olivia sighed, frustrated. "Fine, I'll admit it doesn't look good. But I told you I have no idea how I ended up out there! How many times do I have to tell you that I don't know? I have absolutely nothing to do with that ship shooting at you! Hell, you think I want to be on a ship when people are SHOOTING AT YOU??????" How dumb do you think I am?"

"And what proof do I have that you are not involved?" He demanded.

"The same amount of proof you have that I am involved!" She shot back. "Not to mention the words that are coming out of my mouth."

He continued to glare, "And what proof do I have of the value of your word?"

She rolled her eyes, "Ouch." She said sarcastically. "Just what the Hell climbed up your ass and died anyway?"

Jack stared at her, while he was angry he was also completely shocked to hear her use such coarse language from a woman, particularly a woman who demonstrated such education. Lord, the words coming out of her mouth would have made Sophie burn quite red with shame!

Olivia sighed again, regaining some control from her previous outbursts. "Look. I promise you I don't know a damn thing about "Wilmington" except that it's a port city in North Carolina on Cape Fear. Went there once, place I stayed had really good bagels, but that's ALL I know about any Wilmington! Besides, what would I have to gain from endangering your ship?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you inform me, Miss Corin?" He said quite coldly, obviously not believing her.

Olivia dropped her head into her hands. "Look. We can go around in circles all night. What do I have to do to make you believe me?"

"You cannot." Jack said simply. "Which is why I have decided to put you ashore."

"WHAT??" Olivia exclaimed, her head popping back up and her eyes wide. "Where?"

"The first inhabitable place possible." He replied quite coolly.

Olivia however, was far from calm. Her rage from earlier came back in full force. "What the fuck? So you're just dumping me on some damn island? And just what the Hell am I supposed to do?? Become a hermit and talk to a fucking volleyball like Tom Hanks???? Damn it! I will NOT become a fucking movie!!!" She ranted, jumping to her feet. "You are an unbelievable jerkass! Bastard! You God damned son of a-"

Jack had no idea who exactly this "Tom Hanks" was or what a "movie" was but he got the point that Olivia was not happy, and he most certainly did not like the names she was calling him. Had she been a man he most certainly would have hit her, but somehow he found the power to restrain himself.

"My decision stands!" He interrupted her ranting with a quite firm order. "Perhaps there you will be able to ponder how a lady should conduct herself." With that, he turned on his heels and stormed out of the cabin, needing to distance himself from the furious Miss Corin.

Olivia sank back into her chair with a frustrated sigh. Her last outburst had taken all her energy and now she just felt completely helpless. What would she do now?

Meanwhile, Tom had been positioned on the quarterdeck so he could hear the whole confrontation between Olivia and the Captain and now felt as if he were torn in two. He loved Olivia, but what if Jack was right? What if Olivia was a spy of some sort? What if she was merely pretending to have affections for him? She could sing, could she act as well? He always felt that she was holding something back from him. Before he had waved these thoughts away, believing he might be misreading her, or that her secrets were not of any real consequences, but now all his suspicions came back to him in full force.

He needed to talk with her. He wanted answers to the questions that had been plaguing him. Tom paused a moment, waiting until she had a chance to calm down a bit. He had never heard her talk so foully nor sound so outraged and it surprised him. He had not thought her capable of such strong language. He thought it best to give her a chance to rest and calm down before confronting her, although his questions had him impatiently debating how long she would need. Finally, he could not wait anymore, his patience had run out.

The marine at the door to the cabin hesitated as Pullings approached. The Captain had told him that Miss Corin was not to leave the cabin, and although it was not expressly said it seemed implied that she should receive no visitors. However, she was still technically in Pullings charge, so he supposed it was all right.

Tom entered the cabin to find Olivia lying on the bench under the windows. Her hands were covering her eyes and she was humming to herself. Obviously, she did not notice his entry, either that or she did not care he was there. Tom watched her a moment, determined not to let his blind affections get the better of him, and then cleared his throat loudly.

Olivia moved one hand and looked up with one exposed eye. "Have you spoken to the Captain?" She asked, her voice expressionless.

"No." Tom replied. "But I must admit I overheard you from the quarterdeck."

Olivia sighed, sitting up. "Okay, I know I lost my head a bit."

"A bit?" Tom exclaimed. "Olivia! You were completely out of line!"

"I know!" She replied sharply. She then sighed, resting her head in her hands. "I'm sorry Tom. I was just.... I was overwhelmed and exhausted I suppose. And he was accusing me of spying, which is obviously completely insane. And I-" She stopped short at the look on his face. "Tom? Please tell me you don't believe I'm a spy too?"

He looked at her, wanting to assure her that no part of him believed it, but he could not in good conscience do so.

She closed her eyes, the hurt his silence caused was plain on her face. "I don't believe this." She said softly. "Don't you trust me?"

"Olivia, I know that you are holding something from me. It is plain enough." He stepped closer to her, so he could better see her face to read her expression. "How can I completely trust you if you do not tell me whole truths?"

She stared at him a moment, as if coming to a great decision. "If I tell you... you won't believe me." She said slowly, rising to her feet and staring out the window.

He slowly approached her, wanting to embrace her and assure her, but willed himself to hold back. Instead, he merely came to stand beside her, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "Whatever makes you believe that?"

A faint smile played at her lips, "Because I'm having a hard time believing it myself." She said.

He stared at her in silence for a moment, waiting for her to speak again. Then, when she was obviously not going to go any further. He chose to push the issue. "Olivia, you must tell me. How can I possibly defend you if I do not know what you are hiding?"

Olivia gave him a sharp look. "If I tell you, you must promise me you will not tell anyone else." She said. "That includes the Captain."

Tom shook his head. "I cannot give you that promise."

"Then I can't tell you." She turned to face him with a sigh. "Tom, I have my reasons. Please. I promise it is nothing that will hurt the Surprise. Lord Tom, I would never want to do that!"

"Olivia, you are asking me to deceive the man I have served under since boyhood, whom I trust with my very life. I owe it to Captain Aubrey to tell him the truth." He said firmly. "And I will not lie to him. But I do need to know what you are hiding. For the safety of this ship and crew."

Olivia sighed, "Very well. But, can you promise me that if you find it does not affect the ship, then you will keep it secret? Please?"

Tom hesitated a moment, then slowly nodded, "Very well then, I will hold back what information is not pertinent, but that is for me to judge."

Olivia nodded curtly, "Fair enough." She began to pace to and fro the room, as if gathering her thoughts. "There's no good way to say this. I'm not even quite sure where to begin." She stopped her pacing, turning to face him. Taking a deep breath she spoke. "Remember how I said I was from Virginia?"

He nodded, not sure where she was going with this. "Yes, in the mountains."

"Well, that's true and it's not true." She said, shifting nervously on her heels. She tried to think of a good way to say it, but could not for the life of her think of one. Finally she sighed, "I'm actually from about two hundred years in the future."

Tom merely stared at her, he was not even sure how to react. What she was saying was completely unrealistic and he felt slightly annoyed that she did not even take the effort to come up with a good lie. However, she seemed so sincere, he just did not know what to think. "Did you hit your head very hard recently?" He finally asked.

"What? Well, I've hit my head a couple times since I got here but that's not the point!" She exclaimed. "I'm telling the truth Tom!" She sighed, throwing up her hands in defeat. "I knew you wouldn't believe me."

Tom sighed as well, "It's just hard to believe, Olivia."

She licked her lips, thinking for a moment. Then she crossed the room and found the clothes she was pulled out of the water in. She threw her shoe to him. "Look."

Tom caught it, and glanced over it. The shoe certainly wasn't like any he'd seen before. He had not closely inspected her apparel when she first appeared, and he had not noticed the strangeness of her footwear.

"It's not like any shoe you've seen before, is it?" She said, crossing back over to him. "These are my hiking and climbing shoes. Don't think any shoemaker makes them like that in this time, do you?" She said quite calmly as he studied the shoe.

"All right." He said slowly. Tom's head was starting to spin, if she was telling the truth then what did that mean? There was so much he would like to ask her, but was unsure where to begin. "If you are from the future, then how did you get here?"

Olivia closed her eyes a moment and sighed. "I have absolutely no idea." She said. "I went camping with my friends for the weekend, and I had gotten up early to go rock climbing, which is not unusual for me. But then I misjudged something and I slipped and fell off the cliff a good ways up, but instead of hitting the ground, which would have really hurt by the way and probably done some damage, anyway I hit the ocean instead. I was in such a state of shock that I didn't even put much thought behind how I got there. Then several hours later, you pulled me out and here I am." She looked at him, praying he believed her. "That's all I know Tom, I swear it."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" He asked simply. This did explain some of the strange things she said and did, before he thought it was merely because she was an American from a rather remote area, but now, knowing she was from the future did explain some things.

"Would anyone have believed me?" She asked. "I was scared to death you'd think I was insane or something. I don't have anywhere else to go, and I was downright afraid." She sank into a chair, holding her head in her hands again. "I don't know how I got here, and I don't know how to get back." She looked back up at him, distress plain on her face and tears in her eyes. "I don't know what to do, Tom."

Tom could no longer remain cold and unmoved. It pained him to see her so upset, and he quickly kneeled before her, gathering her hands in his. "Olivia, I will take care of you as I can, I promise." He assured her, reaching up to push aside a stray strand of hair and carefully wipe the tears from her cheek. "I am quite in love with you." He admitted.

Olivia took a shuddering breath, tears streaming down her face. Without so much as a word she flung herself forward into his arms. She was trembling, clinging to him as if he were the only thing holding her back from the edge of an abyss.

Tom pulled her closer, tightening his hold on her, concerned for her trembling and rocking her as if she were a small child. He offered her what comfort he could, never being one who knew what to do in these situations he felt as if he should be doing something more to help her. "Olivia, I-" He started to say something, attempting to comfort her more.

However, Olivia shook her head, "Just hold me Tom." She said softly. "That's all I need." She said, resting her chin against his shoulder.

He closed his eyes, more then happy to accommodate her desperate need to hold onto something at the moment. He gently rested his head against hers, wondering if he could possibly hold her forever. Lord how he wanted to. Suddenly, he thought of his proposal again. Did this mean she had accepted? He knew she was distraught, but he could not help but wonder.

Tom pulled his head back slightly and kissed her gently. He then noticed the streaks her tears had left on her dirty face and smiled, wiping them with his thumb. "You're filthy." He teased gently.

Olivia laughed softly, "Oh like you're not." She replied, returning his kisses, which lead into a deeper, far more passionate kiss. With a sigh she pulled back, turning and leaning against him as they sat together. "Well, what are we going to do? The Captain is planning on dumping me somewhere."

"Yes, surely he does not mean to maroon you however." Tom replied, unable to believe that the man he respected would be so cruel. "I will speak with him."

Olivia smiled faintly, "That's probably best. I was rather nasty earlier. Apologize for me?" She asked, turning to look up at him.

"Of course." He said, kissing the top of her head before climbing to his feet once more, lending a hand to help her up as well. He smiled, stepping back, still holding her hand in his. "Will you be all right?"

Olivia nodded, "Yes, I suppose. I'm just tired and have never wanted a hot bath and a change of clothes more desperately in my life."

Tom smiled, "Well, I'm afraid I can't do much about the bath, but I will see if I can find you more clothes." He carefully lifted a hand to her face, and brushed away the remains of her tears. "In the meanwhile, see if you can get some rest."

Olivia raised her chin slightly and nodded. "I will." She said, recovering her usual voice. Tom gave her one last quick kiss and turned to leave, just as he reached the door Olivia cried out. "Tom!"

He turned, raising his eyebrow, waiting for her request. "Yes?"

Olivia paused, searching for words, "I.... I just wanted to say..." She trailed off, still searching. Finally she merely shrugged, as if poetic words simply could not come and she had to say what she wanted plainly. "I love you too."

Tom stared at her a moment, grinning widely and beaming like a schoolboy. Without a word he gave her a small bow, placed his hat back on his head, and turned to leave. Suddenly, he turned back to her, crossing the distance between them, sweeping off his hat, and pulling her into a kiss. He then silently stepped back, with a wide, sheepish grin, firmly placed his hat back on his head and turned to leave the cabin leaving a smiling, yet exhausted Olivia in his wake. Unfortunately, he was so distracted by her declaration of affection that he smacked straight into the cabin door with a loud CRACK!

"Be careful Tom!" Olivia exclaimed, trying to keep the amusement from her voice.

"Of course, dear." Tom replied, turning to her with a broad smile. He then ducked safely out the door and still grinning ear to ear as few had seen him before, Tom made his way to find the Captain.

Young Blakeney saw Mr. Pullings and curiously watched him as he passed, cheerfully nodding to the young midshipmen. As soon as he was out of earshot he turned to Calamy. "What do you suppose has Mr. Pullings in a fine mood?" He asked.

Peter turned to the younger boy with a grin, "You'll understand when you're older Will." He said.

Blakeney frowned, troubled. "But... you aren't THAT much older than me."

Calamy laughed, "Have you gone blind? Must I draw up a proof?" He leaned closer, lowering his voice to gossip. "Mr. Pullings fancies Miss Corin."

Blakeney felt his jaw drop, now that it was pointed out to him, it was rather obvious. He wondered how exactly he missed it before. "And... Mr. Pullings just came from the cabin..." He trailed off. "Oh." He flushed at his ignorance and decided that it would be the opportune moment to leave, excusing himself.

Calamy watched his friend leave and laughed to himself going on about his business, and wondering with curiosity just what exactly Pullings was up to.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the language but I DID warn you at the very beginning. She was not happy hehe. And Tom now knows about the whole time travel deal. Awww he's such a nice little puppy. Okay I went to the Acoustic Planet tour last night which was awesome by the way, but I think I seriously lost a few brain cells from second hand smoke blown in my face (of multiple kinds...blah....) so I can't think of anything witty to say. I'm also pooped from driving about 800 miles this week alone.... And it's only Thursday..... dang. Anyway, no wit for you!

Will Pullings convince the the Captain not to maroon Olivia? Tune in next time to find out!

Jingerjinx: Thanks for reviewing. I checked the second chapter and didn't see what you were talking about... maybe was doing something weird? I don't know. But I had a friend scan it while I was thinking about it and she didn't see it either... so weird.... haha Pullings there at handy times isn't he? Glad you're enjoying

Mascara Rain: I posted! Are you angry? Please don't be mad! I don't like having people being mad at me. Besides you don't want to come near me to beat me up I stink right now. Haha Olivia singing anything pop would be funny. Though I think a phish song would be funny too because those lyrics make no sense... and phish is cool. Anyway, thank you so much for your lovely review. I'm glad you approve of it. Killick will deliver your cookies as soon as he figures out how to use the electric oven.... Might be a while...

Sillytigerlily: Hahaha yes Tom is all right. He's not dead.... yet.... Mwahahaha. I enjoy messing with people's minds can you tell? Haha so if he died you would have been mad she didn't accept his proposal? Well... that would have been sad because then he would have died all sad and crap. But she didn't refuse! Thanks for the lovely review m'dear! Hehe!

Fawks: Haha he certainly would have been happier. Her answer was vague... so you shall have to wait and see... poor confused thing. I enjoy torturing my characters. It's fun. Thanks for the review :-)

Sarah: I updated! Even though I'm tired I updated! Just for you! Hehe! Because you rock! You should post your story! Even though I don't know what the plot is yet.... I emailed you today though so there. Man am I tired.... I don't think I'm making sense in any of these response deallies. But anyway! As always lovely to hear from you! Thank you for reviewing! You get the gold star because I had a really bad day the day I got your review and you made me happy again! Yay you! Thanks so much for making me smile :-)

Cajunpippinpirate: I agree! Tommy-boy is cute when confused... like a puppy hehe. Olivia is um... yeah probably 21... she's 21 or 22.. something like that. I'm thinking 21. So good job on calling the age! Hm... I honestly don't know what I would say in her situation. Her situation is crazy so I doubt it will ever come up.... LOL. Thanks for the lovely review and hope you enjoyed this chapter.

British-luver: Wow! I've never received such a nice review! Ever! Can I send this to my eighth grade english teacher? Hehe! Haha a movie producer eh? Actually I'm going to be a history teacher, haha and if I change majors now my parents might murder me and bury me in the backyard with the rabbit. Aww... I'm sorry the girl isn't toi... you can imagine she is though if it makes you feel better! Haha I try to update with some time between chapters and I try not to make them too long... (eats words and looks woefully at the pretty much abandoned LOTR story) well... I said try... though I'm getting ready to study abroad so there might be a semi-long pause at some point... Though hopefully I'll get my computer hooked up pretty quick over there. Haha but just warning you. Thanks for the nicest review ever. I love you!

Eldarwen999: Here's another chapter! Is it soon? I don't know. What happens next? Mwahaha you'll just have to wait and see! I know.... Hehe

Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews! Yay! You're all my heroes! I'm really quite sleepy tonight and I hope the responses make sense but I wanted to post before Friday in case things get crazy! I just hope I got everyone! If I left someone out you have my most profound apologies!

Please continue the lovely reviews and if you've been reading and haven't been reviewing shame on you! I'm just as bad but still! Shame shame shame!


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten 

Meanwhile, Jack Aubrey was not in the best of moods. After his confrontation with Miss Corin, Stephen had insisted he see to the nasty gash on Jack's head while Jack was anxious to make repairs and get underway. He was now determined to give chase to the Wilmington and did not appreciate the delay, however, Stephen had been quite insistent. So now he was sitting in Stephen's quarters as his friend stitched his head closed once more. He shifted in the chair, quite agitated and restless, receiving an irritated glare from Stephen who was having troubling stitching on a moving subject.

"Jack if you do not sit still I may accidentally poke an eye out." Stephen scolded.

Jack made an attempt to be still. "Now Stephen, I trust that you have steady hands and can tell the difference between my brow and my eye." He commented, wincing as the needle passed through once more.

Stephen merely looked at his patient over his glasses and went back to work. "I heard you and Miss Corin exchanged rather harsh words." He commented.

Jack glared up at his friend, causing Stephen to shift his work with an air of annoyance. "Yes well, I was shocked by her choice of words truth be told."

"I also was informed that you intend to set her ashore." Stephen said, his tone was disapproving as he continued with his stitches.

Jack sighed, "News travels fast does it not?"

"It does when it is shouted from the cabin." Stephen shot back calmly, without pausing in his work.

Jack knew right away that Stephen would not approve and he immediately began to form arguments in his mind when a knock came.

Stephen looked up, as Tom Pullings entered. "Mr. Pullings, what may I do for you?" He asked, continuing with his stitching.

"I'd like a word with the Captain, sir." He replied, removing his hat.

"Make it quick Mr. Pullings." Jack said sharply. He was not exactly pleased with Tom at the moment. He knew full well that Pullings had fallen for the girl, and that whatever her involvement, Mr. Pullings was blinded by his affections and completely missed it.

He hesitated for a moment. Now that he was here he had no idea what he should say. "Sir, I have come to speak on behalf of Miss Corin."

Jack tried to glare up at him, but Stephen firmly held his head in place and gave him a stern look. "Be still." He ordered under his breath, clearly irritated.

The Captain would have laughed at Stephen's annoyance had he not been irritated himself. "I imagined you might. And my answer is no."

"No?" Tom replied, blinking in surprise. "Sir! I haven't even inquired yet."

"Very well." Jack jerked his head out of Stephen's grip to look at his officer.

"I would like you to reconsidering setting Miss Corin ashore." He asked, cautiously, completely unsure of his words.

"No." Jack quickly replied.

"Will you please stop moving your head about?" Stephen begged, clearly growing more frustrated with his patient.

"Sir, please. Miss Corin had nothing to do with that ship." Tom said desperately.

"And how do you know this?" Jack asked. "How do you know she is not playing you as a fool Tom?" His voice had a harsh edge to it as he questioned the younger man.

"I trust her." Tom said simply. He knew it was a ridiculous thing to say in this argument, but he could find no other way to explain it.

"You-" Jack began, but cut off glancing up at the surgeon. "Stephen, will you excuse us for a moment?"

Stephen glared at Jack, he was in the middle of sewing up his head and he wanted him to leave? "There are only a few more stitches." He protested quite firmly.

"Very well. Be quick about it." Jack replied.

"Then hold your head still." Stephen shot back with annoyance, muttering as he finished his work. He then left quite unhappily asking to be found when they were quite through using his cabin.

Jack stood after Stephen left, pacing. "Tom, you love this woman, am I correct?" He suddenly asked.

Tom flushed slightly, knowing he must have been quite obvious. "Well, yes sir." He replied. "I do."

Jack sighed, feeling quite sorry for the man. "And what were your plans?" He asked. "I am assuming you had them."

"I hoped she would have passage back to England, where I would marry her, if she is willing." Tom admitted, he hated talking about these things to anyone, let alone his Captain, and he felt his face grow hot.

Jack pondered on this for a moment then shook his head. "You know I cannot allow her to stay."

"But sir!" Tom protested.

He held up a hand, silencing the lieutenant. "We do not know for certain that she is not involved with the Wilmington. I know you trust her, but she could very well be a clever agent. If she is indeed with the Wilmington, then surely they will have means to collect her."

"And if she is not?" Tom asked. "You are willing to leave an innocent woman alone on a foreign shore?"

The Captain glared, he did not like being questioned, and he also knew in his heart that Tom had a point. "An innocent woman would not have used such harsh and insulting words as Miss Corin has done, Mr. Pullings."

"You are condemning her for words she used out of exhaustion and frustration, sir?" Tom asked, feeling slightly more confident. "She knows she was wrong for being so vulgar, and she asked me to apologize for her." He licked his lips, desperate to come up with a solution and to persuade the Captain. "Sir, surely we can reach a compromise. If we leave her ashore I fear for her safety, and I-" He stopped himself suddenly.

Jack raised an eyebrow, "And you will never see her again?" He finished Tom's sentence. He watched the poor man suffer as he paced the room. Tom looked like his world was coming to an end. Suddenly Jack laughed, an unpredicted sound, which made the poor man jump out of his skin. "Lord, what a woman does to a man, eh Tom?" He asked chuckling. "There was a time when you wouldn't dream of questioning me."

Tom looked quite uneasy, but managed a weak smile. "I fear I have not been quite myself since I met her, sir."

"Yes. Which is why I know you are sincere in how you feel towards her." Jack replied, clapping the man on the shoulder. "But I cannot have her aboard while we attempt to take the Wilmington. Unless, you would rather me have her in irons below?"

Tom shook his head, "No sir. But perhaps there is a compromise?" He paused, giving himself time to reach a reasonable conclusion. "Perhaps we put her ashore until we take the Wilmington prize, and then return to collect her, and if needed to make repairs and gather supplies?"

Jack considered this offer carefully. It did make sense, and he knew if he abandoned Miss Corin he would eventually feel quite guilty. Particularly since his first lieutenant loved her so, and for Tom, who was often painfully shy and uneasy of such things, catching the favor of a woman was a rather meaningful event, and to part him from Miss Corin without much chance of seeing her again would be terribly cruel. He finally nodded, "Very well Mr. Pullings. That is a reasonable request." He replied. He also knew that once they captured the Wilmington he could find out for sure if Miss Corin was with them or not.

Tom practically beamed with relief. "Thank you, sir." He replied quickly.

Jack could not help but smile, shaking his hand. "Tom, I do hope all goes well for you and Miss Corin." He said sincerely. "And I am happy for you."

"Thank you, sir." He said again, paying his respects before quickly turning to leave. He was in high spirits once again and despite the fact that the Surprise was in need of repairs from a rather bad pounding, things could not look brighter.

Meanwhile, the Doctor returned to his cabin to find the Captain also in a surprisingly good mood. "Well, I trust you have come to an accord with Mr. Pullings?" Stephen asked, having passed a very pleased looking Tom just moments before.

Jack nodded, "Yes, we have come to an arrangement. Lord, Stephen, I do hope my suspicions about Miss Corin are wrong for Tom's sake." He said. "It would most certainly break the man's heart if she were playing him false."

Stephen, who knew a fair amount about the subject of heartache from his relationship with Diana, nodded in agreement. "I daresay it would."

Jack then shrugged off the unhappy thoughts as quickly as they came. "Well! Stephen! It has been an eventful day! Shall we play tomorrow evening? I daresay Miss Corin will not protest to spending a few hours or so on deck with Mr. Pullings, and we have not played in such a long while I am growing to miss it."

Stephen nodded in agreement. "I heartily agree with you for tomorrow evening, tonight I am rather exhausted and doubt I could keep my eyes open long enough to lift a bow." He said. "But tell me brother, what agreement did you and Mr. Pullings decide upon? I take it that Miss Corin is no longer going to be set ashore."

"She is, but only for a time. The Wilmington cannot have gotten far ahead of us with the damage we caused her; therefore, we are going after her. Until we take her prize Miss Corin is to wait on land." Jack explained.

"Ah." Stephen nodded, "Which will surely give you the chance to find out for sure if Miss Corin is the spy you believe she is."

Jack smiled at his friend. "I take it you do not believe she is an agent?"

Stephen paused for a moment, "Well, I have my doubts she could be a spy, my dear. Have you noticed when nervous she tends to fidget quite terribly and will ramble? Surely if she were up to something her tongue would have slipped? However, you are right that she seems to be holding information back. The question is: is that information endangering this ship?" Stephen then added as an after thought, "And I am happy to hear you do not plan to completely abandon her. Spending time with Miss Corin in sick-berth has given me the impression that she is a thoughtful and kind creature in her way, and is some small assistance to me."

Jack shook his head, "No, I do not believe in hindsight that I could have marooned her, my conscience dictates otherwise. Besides," He added with a smile. "Poor Tom might have jumped ship for her and then where would we have been?"

* * *

A/N: I know, I know, I don't give many details about the battle and the plans to take the Wilmington, but I haven't so much as seen an ocean in four years and I do not have a vast knowledge of nautical... stuff.... which is why I go for Olivia's point of view in battles because she wouldn't know what the heck was going on either!! Also I know Jack is slightly out of character in that I'm sure he would never leave a woman alone on some island.... but hey! It has to be like that for my freakin plot so that's the way it is! And the plan is to come back so... whatever. This is how I get my plot (with a million holes) to work. A million apologies for my crappiness! And the shortness of this chapter, but this story certainly doesn't break up into chapters well and I wasn't planning on posting it when I wrote it..... so... sorry.... But I'm updating relatively fast! So a little chapters better than nothing eh?

Fawks: Haha! Wow I made you laugh that hard eh? Neat! I'm glad I amused you :-) I updated! (points) See? Hope you enjoyed the short little chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

Mascara Rain: Haha I should be a writer eh? Thanks, I'm flattered. Actually I'm going to be a history teacher... so you can wait in line to come to my class..... right.... Anyway, Killick using an electric oven can't be any worse than ME using the oven. I have the baking skills of a turnip. Phish is awesome I agree, and it's very sad that they are no more. I have friends who drove up to Vermont for their last tour deally (yeah I'm not THAT committed... and I had to work... and the tickets were WAY out of my price range... anyway) and had to park their car on the interstate and walk 17 miles to get there. They are WAY more committed to Phish than I am to.... ANYTHING. And you must think I'm really odd now but that's okay! Have you heard of String Cheese Incident or Big Wu? Kellar Williams? Haha okay I can name off random bands all night... The Beatles are great too. You have good taste in music. Congratulations. As always m'dear, thanks for the lovely review!

Lily Knotwise: I wrote more! Look! (points at screen) Because you told me to. I'm very easily bossed around. Okay not really... anyway! Thanks for the review! That last chapter was very fluffy... as will be the next chapter just to warn you.... So heads up!! (throws cotton into the air in anticipation of posting the next chapter)

CAJUNpIPPENpIRATE: LOL that IS very weird. I just picked a random port city! Haha. And I have been to Wilmington a million years ago for a softball tournament. I can't even remember how long ago that was... that's how long ago it was. Haha and the place I stayed really did have good bagels... wherever that was.... Man that had to have been at LEAST eight or nine years ago... I'm old (nods). Anyway, yes, you live in a cool city. I enjoyed it because I'm a history major (I wasn't at the time but I was a freakish history maniac child) so I went to all those old house deallies with my mom. Oh! And I bought the Hunchback of Notre Dame at Wal-Mart. Or I think it was Wal-Mart.... It was a Wal-Martish store... whatever. Haha that's all I remember. I don't remember the softball I remember the bagels! And free food is always fun. (nods) I think you should write whatever you feel like it and don't worry about what picky people may say! A Blakeney/OC could be fun. It's up to you really. Haha whatever floats your boat (groans at horrible pun). Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for telling me where you live! Yay Wilmington! Haha oh yeah, and yeah I know the ship's name should be in italics, but when I transfer things into it takes out my italics and then I'd have to hunt in the little editing deally for every freakin mention of the ship and put it in italics and I'm lazy and that takes way too long. I write, proof once when I do my spacing... and that's it... because I'm lazy and it'd make my posts fewer and farther between. Haha but yay you for knowing that! You know your stuff! Thanks for the review!

MusicBoxDancer: Okay... so there was SOME mention of what happened with the battle. Both ships got beat up and now the Surprise is chasing the Wilmington... yeah I'm so descriptive... Anyway, your welcome for Maturin and there was more Maturin in this chapter. Like I said I've completely written this story already and so I can tell you where Maturin will be and won't be... he's in there a few more times... a little in the next chapter.... Then no Maturin for a while... then finally some more Maturin.... Yeah that's descriptive too but I can't tell you more because I can't give away the story! Thanks for the review m'dear! Sorry about the lack of Maturin :-)

Jingerjinx: Haha I'm glad your cat enjoyed it. And you seeing ??!! and not "" is REALLY freaking me out! Because I'm not seeing it!!! I'm seeing normal ""!!! I SWEAR I wrote it with normal "" so I have no idea why you keep seeing otherwise. Is anyone else having this problem?? Because this is freaking me out!!! AHHHHH!!!!! Haha thanks for the review... even if it's freaking me out.....

British-luver: Haha I'm glad you enjoyed the cursing. That was very easy to write... all I had to do was look out my dorm room window at the construction and the cursing just came right out! Hehe! And I recall me writing that amused my roommate a great deal. Haha and I'm sure Olivia wanted to do more in the cabin but Mr. Pullings is a gentleman hehe... silly guy. You motivated me again! Hope you enjoyed this chapter m'dear! Thanks for the wonderful review! Oh! Haha and my name is Stephanie too... haha that amused me for some reason! Happy reading :-)

Sarah: Sorry I haven't emailed you back yet... haha I just thought of that and was like.. oh yeah... I'm kind of scatter brained until I get to school and get settled in.. this being at home for so long thing is really kind of throwing me off! Anyway, haha I'm glad you liked the chapter! Don't get in trouble reading it during class because then I'll feel bad! Here's an update so you can stop running around going crazy for five seconds and then if you feel the need... commence to run around crazy again until the next chapter. Thanks as always for the review and toddles m'dear!

Sillytigerlily: Haha like rabbits! Okay your review cracked me up! I can just see a whole island full of little Pullingses running around... hehehehe.... Okay so that's not what happens but that's a funny funny mental image right there! Haha I'll admit I sound an awful lot like Olivia when I'm away at school... and I slip up at home on occasion and get in SO much trouble if I swear in front of my mom. And getting a deathglare from mom is NOT fun no matter how old I am! I updated! So you can't finish the story for me :-P but feel free to imagine Olivia and Tom in that grass hut with their many many little Pullingses all you want ;-) Thanks for the review m'dear!

Narlita Firedance: Haha thanks for the kind review. I'm glad you enjoyed the random Castaway reference. Haha Wilson the volleyball was my favorite character in that movie! I wrote more. Haha hope you are pleased! Again, thanks!

TheMusingFit: LOL I forgive you... mainly because I'm bad at reviewing other people's stuff... but I've been trying to review more lately so I'm hoping to redeem myself. Haha yeah Tom's pretty cool about the future thing. I found that amusing when I wrote it. "Oh you're from the future? That's nice dear." And it'd fun to injure him constantly... because I am very evil. Haha awww... I'm sure if Tom met you he'd break an arm or leg! Glad you're enjoying and thanks for the review! Toddles!!

Wow guys! That was a large amount of reviews in a short period of time! Haha I was in shock! You can ask my Dad when I nearly fell out of the computer chair with my "Whoa! Look at all those emails!" Keep reviewing if you please! Hehe I enjoy hearing from you! And if you're following this and not reviewing... well I can't really shame you because I do the same thing a lot of the time, but I CAN beg you to review! Haha it can even be just one word! Like "Crap." or "Good." or "Meh." Until next chapter! Happy Reading!


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Olivia stood on the quarterdeck enjoying the fresh air. It was a cool night and the air felt somehow calming to her. She had spent the entire day in the cabin, most of which she had been asleep. As soon as Tom had left to speak with the Captain she had collapsed into the hammock and slept longer than she had thought possible. She vaguely remembered Tom coming in, telling her he had come to an agreement with the Captain, and depositing fresh clothes. When she had finally gotten up she was shocked to find a dress made from what she supposed was blue cotton. She despised dresses normally, finding that every single time she had to wear one she managed to trip over the hem with nearly every step, but in this instance she found it really quite touching, not to mention refreshing considering she had been wearing the same shirt and breeches since she arrived, and she happily changed.

The sound of strings tuning pulled her from her thoughts and she smiled at the tone, which being a music major she found quite familiar. She remembered when one of her friends had attempted to teach her the violin, a task that she found she had little talent for. "Stick with vocals." Was the advice she had been given after her disastrous attempt.

"Olivia?" It was Tom. She didn't even have to look, but she did turn and smiled at him as he approached her. He studied her for a moment, he had barely seen her at all that day, being busy with repairs, and it was the first time he had seen her in a dress. He smiled, kissing her hand. "You look lovely."

She laughed, "Well, I look better. I would hardly say lovely." She replied. "I would like to know where on earth you came up with a dress however."

"Oh." Tom waved her curiosity aside. "I arranged that a week ago. We had a spare bolt of cotton see, and I thought you might be growing tired of going about in men's clothing. The Captain agreed and set a few men who were talented with the needle on your dress. It was finished two days ago, but it slipped my mind." He smiled. "You like it?" He asked hopefully.

Olivia grinned, stepping back and holding out arms, turning around. "What do you think?" She asked, modeling it.

He laughed, "Blue suites you." He complimented.

"Thank you." She replied, taking his arm as he escorted her to a seat. "So, Tom, shall we enjoy an evening of music on the quarterdeck?"

"Certainly, my dear." He replied. "When do you suppose they will start?"

Olivia paused, listening to the tuning. "They sound pretty close. I doubt the salt does well for the wood in the instruments, so perfect intonation I imagine is quite tricky." She stopped, laughing at the puzzled look on Tom's face. "Now you know how I feel every time you start using nautical terms."

Tom grinned sheepishly, "I recall you saying you studied music. Do you play?"

Olivia snorted, "I'm not allowed to go anywhere near a violin by order of my friend Lannie who tried to teach me once. But I do manage some piano, and I've been playing percussion in orchestra since in high school, I was on the drum line you see, for marching band." She stopped realizing she'd completely lost him. "I'm in school now, or at least I was, studying vocal music. I was planning on going into opera. Long shot of being successful, but I was going to give it a try."

"You would do well, you have a powerful voice." He told her. "The London stage would never be the same."

Olivia snorted, "London? Lord, I'd be lucky if I got a job in DC or even a little city like Roanoke. And even then I'll probably be flipping burgers until I'm forty."

"Olivia, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about." He replied, repeating her words from the tour he gave her. It seemed so long ago now, as if those events had happened years before.

She laughed, "I'm rambling aren't I? Sorry."

They fell silent, listening to the Captain and Doctor's duet. It was a lovely, light and airy piece and Olivia swore she had heard it before. She was struggling to remember when and where for her old life seemed like her distant past. It had almost become a hazy dream, as if she had come awake from a long slumber when she hit the water all those months ago. She was beginning to wonder if she even wanted to go back, an odd thing to think she knew, but, she admitted, it was Tom who made her think these thoughts. Was she really willing to give up her entire life for him? She admitted to herself that it was not as if she had the power to go home in the first place, but still, the fact that she was thinking of how she may rather stay with Tom than go back to the future struck her as incredibly out of character. She remembered her last visit to her grandmother, the overbearing proverbial ruler of the family who lit into her about not "finding a good man and settling to a family." She had said then that she didn't think she was the marrying type, so why was she changing her mind now? It was Tom again. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, why did he have this affect on her? What was it about him?

Suddenly, an amusing thought struck her. 'I've turned into a fairy tail damsel in distress! A, what was the term they used in those stories on the internet? A Mary-Sue!' This thought so amused her that she started to laugh.

Tom looked at her quizzically, "What is it?" He asked.

She shook her head, regaining control of her laughter. "Nothing. Just laughing at myself."

He looked doubtful, but shook his head with a smile, "You are an odd woman, Olivia Corin." He told her.

"And would you have it any other way?" She teased.

He paused, as if thinking on it, and then laughed. "No, I don't suppose I would." He then paused again, as if thinking of a good way to bring up something. She knew that look, it was his classic 'I don't want to say this but I have to' look. "I am afraid I must bring up some unpleasant matters now. The Captain tells me that we should reach an island on our course in two days that will be suitable for you do wait on while we pursue the Wilmington. I've been told to prepare you."

Olivia licked her lips, thinking. "And you're coming back for me?"

Tom nodded, "Yes, after we take the Wilmington prize, the Captain assured me we would." He looked at her, studying her face for a moment. "I still do not enjoy the idea of leaving you alone." He admitted.

Olivia found his concern rather touching and smiled comfortingly, "Don't worry about me. I've been camping for as long as I can remember." She assured him. "Just help me set up and get a fire going and I'll be fine."

Tom still looked as if he did not believe her, but he nodded anyway, "Do you know how to shoot?" He asked.

Olivia paused, "You might need to show me how to load, but I was a decent shot when my Uncle used to take me hunting." She assured him. "How long will I be there?" She asked.

"I cannot honestly tell you." Tom said, looking away from her a moment, as if afraid to meet her eyes for fear of losing his head completely. "I do not believe too terribly long. We are not that far behind after all, perhaps a few weeks."

Olivia bit her lip, suddenly a thought came to her mind and she sorely wished it hadn't, what if the Surprise lost? "And... and what if-?" She couldn't bring herself to say it. The thought was too terrifying to be put into words.

Tom guessed her thoughts by the look in her eyes, and he quickly brushed a kiss against her forehead in comfort. He could not fully embrace and silence her fears for they were in plain view on the quarterdeck and such an act would have been inappropriate. "I will come back for you, Olivia." He promised. "No matter the odds."

She felt terribly small and afraid suddenly, "But what if-?"

"Olivia." He quickly interrupted her, refusing to all her to put her fears into words. "If I have to swim back to the island I will. But I will come for you, I swear it."

Olivia took a deep breath, calming herself, and offered him a weak smile. She wordlessly nodded, not trusting her voice for a moment. Suddenly she noticed the silence on the air, the only sound was those of the ship and the ocean, which she had grown quite accustomed to hearing and now found quite soothing. "They've finished the piece." She commented. "I have no desire to go in, do you?"

Tom shook his head, "But it is getting rather cold. Would you like my coat?"

Olivia smiled, "No, I'm fine." She stood, looking out over the dark waters. "Anyway I like the wind. It's quite refreshing."

Tom smiled, standing to join her, "It is." He agreed. A comfortable silence fell over them. Tom could not say all the things he wished to on deck, too many ears about, but he found he did not mind the silence.

Olivia began to softly hum to herself in her usual manner. Tom gave her an amused smile, "And what song is this?" He asked.

She smiled, "I wasn't singing yet." She said. "But if you must know it's from the musical Kismet."

"Oh." Tom said blankly, having never heard of Kismet before. He was afraid he did not have much knowledge of music and felt extremely dull witted whenever she brought up the subject. "A lovely tune. Would you sing a bit of it?"

Olivia laughed, "What? You actually want me to sing? And here I thought I was driving you all crazy with my habit of singing whatever was in my head." She shook her head, "Besides, I'm not entirely sure I remember the words."

"Please. Surely you remember a little?" He asked imploringly.

She gave an amused sigh, "Well, if you look at me that way how can I refuse?" She asked with a smile. "I learned it as a duet, but I'll try the solo." Olivia took a breath, feeling somewhat self-conscious as he watched her expectantly. With a sigh and a brief moment of getting the tune in her head she started to sing:

Take my hand

I'm a stranger in Paradise,

All lost in a wonderland,

A stranger in Paradise,

If I stand starry-eyed,

That's a danger in Paradise

For mortals who stand besides

An Angel like you

Tom watched her, it was clear she was happiest when singing. Her eyes always seemed so far away, as if she were staring at everything and nothing at the same time. It was strange, yet she seemed almost angelic. Suddenly she looked straight at him, her eyes locking with his. Tom swallowed, lost in her intense gaze. It was as if she could see past his exterior and straight into his soul.

I saw your face

And I ascended

Out of a common place

Into the rare!

Now somewhere out in space

I hang suspended

Until I'm certain

There's a chance you care.

Olivia felt herself grow more confident as the song went on. She knew this piece, and had never had a more captive audience. He was looking at her as if she were the center of the world, almost as if she were a strange mirage, and if he blinked she would disappear. She smiled, touching his arm, as if to assure him she was indeed real.

Won't you answer the fervent pray'r

Of a stranger in Paradise?

Don't send me in dark despair

From all that I hunger for;

But open your angel's arms

To the stranger in Paradise

And tell him that he need be a stranger no more

Olivia smiled as she finished and shrugged her shoulders casually. "That's it." She said, feeling rather silly and blushing under his intenst gaze.

"It was lovely." He replied. "Do you know another?"

Olivia laughed, "Well, yes, what is this a recital?" She teased.

Tom returned her smile, "Just one more?" He asked. "Please?"

Olivia raised her chin, amused. "You have a bargain Mr. Pullings." She said. "One more song, and then I suppose I should turn in." She paused, her mind running through the list of songs she knew.

"Well?" Tom teased, watching as her eyes moved back and forth, seeming to read something in the air.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." She replied. "All right. I've got one. My mother used to play it constantly when I was growing up and it's what made me decide to sing in the first place." She said with a smile, remembering wearing down the track on her mother's CD player. She started to sing, not worrying about getting the pitch in her head for she had sung this song countless times since she was a girl as her voice grew more and more powerful. The chorus she particularly liked, and found appropriate for more than one of the predicaments she was in at the moment.

Lift the Wings

That carry me away from here and

Fill the Sail

That breaks the line to home

But when I'm miles and miles apart from you

I'm beside you when I think of you – a Stoirin

And I'm with you as I dream of you – a Stoirin

And a song will bring you near to me – a Stoirin a Gra

Stephen and Jack had finished their piece, and after congratulating each other on a well-played duet they had sat down to coffee. The powerful sound of a soprano voice echoed down to where they sat in the cabin and they paused a moment to listen.

"Miss Corin appears to be in a fine mood." Stephen commented as she finished.

Jack nodded drinking his coffee. "Indeed."

Stephen studied his cup carefully, "Do you really think leaving her alone is wise?" He asked his friend.

Jack sighed, "What would you have me do Stephen?" He asked. "I am at a loss as to what would be best. Miss Corin will be well supplied I assure you, and she seems more than capable of managing by herself for a short time. She is an odd character you know."

"Yes, she is." Stephen agreed. "A most unusual lady indeed. But Pullings seems at home with her."

Jack raised an eyebrow, amused. "Gossip brother?"

"Merely observation, I assure you. It is obvious he is quite smitten with her, and has been painfully apparent for some time, and you said yourself it would pain the man terribly if she were false. But tell me if you will, do you suppose a wedding ceremony is soon in order?" Stephen asked with a smile, recalling poor Pullings falling over himself left and right in the lady's presence.

"Heavens no! I dislike performing such ceremony, some things should be left to clergymen, you know." Jack shook his head. "Besides, Tom knows that now is not the time nor place, I am sure. Poor lad could not help his heart however." Jack added with a smile. "No, Mr. Pullings would wait until we reach England." He said, recalling his conversation with Tom earlier. "But I am glad for him, and have never seen him happier than with Miss Corin." Jack added as an afterthought.

"Indeed, it is a good thing for him. When he came for her in sick-berth it was quite heartening to see her embrace him so warmly with relief plain on her face." Stephen said thoughtfully. "Some would say inappropriate sure, but heart warming none the less."

Jack chuckled, "Yes, it is amusing that she can be bold while he is so damn shy about women. I am glad for his health he seems to be over his clumsy stage of infatuation. His health and my uniform as well." He added, remembering the incident with the pudding.

Stephen chuckled, and was about to comment when a soft knock interrupted his thoughts. Olivia Corin entered smiling shyly at the two of them.

"Oh. You aren't done. Would you like me to leave?" She asked politely.

"No my dear." Stephen stood. "It is late and I was going to retire." He smiled kindly at Olivia as he gathered his things. "Goodnight Miss Corin."

Olivia returned his smile, "Goodnight Doctor." She said as he left.

Jack also rose to go, gathering the last of his papers. "Well, good evening Miss Corin." He said politely.

"Captain." She stopped him. "I would like to apologize for my... well... rather harsh words earlier." Olivia said, fiddling with the fabric of her dress nervously. "I have a bit of a temper, and well, when I'm tired and frustrated it can get out of hand." She looked up, trying to read his expression once more. "I am very grateful for everything you and your crew have done for me. I could not have asked for more, and am eternally thankful." She hurriedly said.

"Miss Corin, your apology is accepted." Jack said, giving her a small smile.

She returned his smile, "I just didn't want you to think me ungrateful. And the dress! Thank you for the dress as well. I never would have dreamed it possible."

"Yes, well, we could not very well have you running about in men's clothing forever now could we?" He asked. "It was no trouble at all." He turned to leave, but then stopped, studying the young woman closely before speaking again. "Miss Corin, it is quite one thing to deceive for shall we say, political purposes? But it is a far worse thing to make a man believe that you love him. If I may be blunt, Mr. Pullings has fallen under whatever spell you women cast, and I would like to know that whatever game you are playing, you are not misusing him."

Olivia blinked in surprise for she had never thought the Captain would get involved in the personal matters of his crew. She doubted he often did, and so she drew herself up to appear more proper. "I assure you I am not." She promised. "I give you my word, whatever value you may put on it." She added, a small smile playing at her lips.

Jack nodded, seemingly satisfied by her response. "Goodnight Miss Corin." He said, turning and leaving to join the Doctor below.

"Goodnight sir." She responded. When she was finally alone she crossed the room and slumped onto the hammock. She was growing used to the thing and managed not to almost fall out. For some reason, despite the fact that she was soon going to be left on some strange island alone she felt surprisingly calm.

"Maybe I'm going crazy." She said out loud to herself with a sigh. Well, she was floating on a boat 200 years in the past with a Captain who suspected her of spying and a first lieutenant who she was in love with, but other than that why would she be going crazy? Well, it wasn't too bad after all, she had Tom, and with a snort she mentally added, and a new dress. What else could she need? Well, besides a shower? With a giggle at her random thoughts she yawned and let the rocking of the ship slowly lull her into pleasant dreams.

* * *

Olivia stared at the island from where she sat in the boat as they rowed her ashore. If this had been a vacation she would have been in love with the place, but staring at it and knowing she could be stuck there alone for a very long time filled her with a certain dread. She shifted in her seat, twisting a strand of hair around her finger nervously.

Tom was standing behind her silently. He could not think of a thing to say and the silence hung in the air uncomfortably. The boat reached the shore and Tom jumped out, reaching back to help Olivia.

She felt rather shaky suddenly, and was quite thankful for his assistance. The boat crew stayed behind, waiting to take Tom back to the ship. They had loaded supplies and set up her camp for her that morning. Dropping Olivia off seemed to be the last thing the Surprise needed to do before leaving.

The site was just a little ways up from shore. Tom had made certain it was on dry land and close to the fresh water. They had been quite generous in her supplies, and he was certain she would be as comfortable as possible while she waited for their return. He rambled on about what was in which container, and where the water was. He was going over all the possible scenarios in his mind over and over again, trying to think of what she should do for each.

Finally, Olivia stopped his nervous rambling. "Tom." She said gently. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

Tom sighed, shifting about on his feet, looking away. "I cannot help myself." He replied. "I do not like leaving you here."

Olivia brought a hand to his cheek to bring his gaze to meet her own. "Just come back." She said. "That's all I ask."

He pulled her close for a kiss, but his hat nearly took her eye. Smiling, Olivia reached up and knocked it off his head. "Funny looking anyway." She commented.

He laughed, kissing her, "My dear, I believe my hat is very fine indeed." He protested teasingly.

"Oh really?" Olivia laughed. "Well, Mr. Pullings, I rather prefer the man wearing it." She teased, picking it up from where it fell. "But I suppose if this hat of yours is so wonderful, I ought to keep it here with me as insurance of your return."

"Olivia Corin." Tom protested. "I need my hat."

She raised an eyebrow, annoyingly flirtatious. "Well, it does make the uniform. But what insurance do I have of your return my dear sir?"

Tom raised his chin, clasping his hands behind his back, perfectly content to play her game. "Perhaps I could suggest a trade?" He asked.

"A trade?" Olivia asked. "What kind of trade?"

Tom paused, then produced a small metal object. He held it out for her to see that it was a ring.

She stared at it for a moment and then looked at Tom dumbly. "Tom?"

"It's not much." He said hurriedly. "It's just a ring crafted from a coin, we had to guess at the size of your finger. I hope it fits." He took her hand, surprised to see that it was shaking. Or perhaps it was his own hand that was shaking, he could not tell. He glanced at her then slid the ring onto her finger.

"It fits." Olivia said softly.

Tom smiled at her, "Your insurance, my dear." He said. "Think of it as my promise that I will return."

She embraced him tightly. "I know you will." She said, kissing him again.

He held her silently for a moment, trying to find the strength to leave but finding his feet were quite attached to the ground. Finally, with a reluctant sigh he spoke. "I should go. We will lose our tide." He said gently, stepping back to kiss her hand.

She nodded, swallowing hard and placed his hat firmly on his head. "Tom, before you go, we never..." She hesitated, trying to find the right words. "We never discussed your marriage proposal." She said quickly.

Tom smiled, kissing her again and stepped back to leave once more. "We do not have to discuss it now, dear, you need time to ponder my request and I understand that." He said simply. "When I return, you will have had more time. Now, come, if we lose our tide the Captain will be most displeased."

Olivia gave him a weak smile and nodded, following him to see the boat off.

The men were ready to row back to the Surprise, and Tom turned to her on the shore for his last goodbye. "Until my return, my dear Olivia." He said softly, kissing her hand most properly. "Which will be most hastily indeed."

She attempted a smile, trying her hardest to be strong and to keep the tears from her eyes. She was surprised to find that it was not so much the being left on the island that pained her, it was leaving Tom that caused the tears to come to her eyes. "I'll hold you to that." She whispered.

He smiled, and turned to leave, hopping onto the boat to direct the rowing. Olivia watched from the shore, her emotions stirring inside her like some sort of cyclone. Tom was doing his best not to look at her. He felt if he did he would lose his control of his own emotions. He tried to assure himself that she would be fine, and they would return for her soon, but he felt as if he were abandoning her.

Suddenly, as if coming to a great decision Olivia rushed closer to the waves and shouted. "Tom!" She cried out. "Tom! Wait! Yes! I will!"

Tom whipped his head around to see her and quickly ordered the men to stop rowing so he could better hear what she was saying. "What?" He called back, confused.

She seemed excited, and filled with emotion. "Yes I will! I will marry you!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

Tom's mouth fell open, and he either ignored or could not hear the few snickers from the boat crew. As quick as he could he jumped over the side into the water, despite the protests about the loss of tide and so forth. Fortunately, they had not rowed out very far and he soon ran up out of the water to Olivia, dripping wet, but his eyes shining like a little boy.

"You mean it?" He asked, grabbing both her hands in his. "You will marry me?"

Olivia, grinning ear to ear with excitement nodded. "Yes. Nothing would make me happier, Tom."

Tom Pullings stared at her as if she had just spoken in ancient Greek, his mouth fell open and he seemed to be in shock. Then, suddenly he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply.

The boat crew erupted into load cheers, most of them having suspected Mr. Pullings and Miss Corin of being involved for some time. The couple of course, was so focused on one another at the time that they did not even notice, or chose to ignore it.

On the Surprise, Dr. Maturin had been looking through his glass at a terribly fascinating bird specimen when he heard the cheers and trained his glass on the boat, then moved to shore to see the couple.

"I say!" Stephen exclaimed, almost dropping his notes.

Jack Aubrey, who had been standing nearby on the quarterdeck heard his friend's exclamation and the cheers of the boat crew and trained his glass on Pullings and Miss Corin as well. He paused for a moment, unsure whether he ought to be extremely unhappy or pleased. He could not help but feel happy for Mr. Pullings and he laughed out loud, clapping his hands. "Killick! Killick there!" He called. "Bring out the wine! I daresay Mr. Pullings will have something to celebrate tonight."

Tom finally broke his kiss with Olivia reluctantly, flushing a deep red when he finally noticed the cheers from the boat crew. He bowed to her, grinning quite sheepishly. "Well, I am terribly pleased Olivia." He said.

"So am I." She replied, grinning as well. "But go! You'll lose your tide and get into even more trouble than you probably already are for that little stunt." She ordered, pushing him forward to where the boat was rowing back to shore for him.

Grinning he walked towards the boat, backwards almost, for he could not take his eyes from her for the life of him, and because of this lack of attention to where he placed his feet he stumbled, crashing backwards into the waves. Olivia laughed and waved as Tom, still grinning stupidly flushed and finally managed to get his footing again and turned around to make his way back to the boat.

The boat crew was rather kind to him when he was on board, congratulating him heartily. When they reached the Surprise, Tom was greeted however by a very unhappy looking Jack Aubrey.

"Mr. Pullings, might I have a word?" He said, sounding extremely cross.

Tom swallowed hard, knowing he must have seen them on shore. Well, it was only a matter of time; the boat crew would not keep a secret after all. "Yes sir." He said, doing his best to wipe the silly grin off his face.

They went into the cabin Jack looking extremely annoyed which put the fear of God into his poor first lieutenant. "Well Mr. Pullings? How do you explain your behavior?" He demanded sternly.

Tom swallowed hard, his smile completely gone now, "Well, sir I...... she..... we....." He stumbled over his words. Finally he gave up and merely simply said, "She agreed to marry me, sir. Shouted it back to me, you know, I could not help myself." He hung his head, ashamed that he had disappointed the Captain.

He was expecting harsh words, but instead he was given laughter. The Captain broke into loud peels of laughter, his eyes shining with mirth. "I congratulate you Tom!" He said, clapping the man on the shoulder, who looked up dumbfounded. "I wish you both joy when we return." He said.

Tom's wide grin was back once more. "Thank you sir!" He exclaimed happily.

Jack clapped him on the shoulder again, grinning as well. "Now! Let us get to the chase so we can return you to your future wife as soon as possible!" He said. "Women tend to dislike long waits after all." He joked. "And I imagine you will not be happy again until we return to this island and collect Miss Corin to take home for you to be married."

Tom beamed, hearing that the Captain would take her to England was a great relief. "Not happy at all sir." He replied still grinning. "Not at all."

* * *

A/N: Yep. I kept you waiting so long I felt the need to post a long chapter. Hope you enjoyed. Yes, I am aware that poor Captain Aubrey is very out of character and his mood swings and you're thinking... "so does he hate Olivia or what?" My answer... well... you'll see why I wanted her on the island in a little while, and well, he's not too sure about her. She's hiding something, but he doesn't know what and it makes him nervous, I suppose. I think Aubrey would want Tom to be happy however, hehe, Tom's kind of like his kid you know. He saw him grow up from mid to now. I love that look on Jack's face at the end when he gives Tom his new orders. It's so cute!

Music disclaimers. The first song I pulled of the CD Opera Babes. Unfortunately I left the box back home and that's kind of across a ocean now until December... so if you really want to know um.... Either look it up yourself or ask me again in late December when I go home.

The second song is from the Riverdance CD, and I didn't do any of the proper accent marks because quite frankly I'm lazy.

Hope you enjoyed the update! The next one should be up real soon I do hope!

Fawks: Haha would I make something happen? Hm.... You'll just have to wait and see won't you? Mwahahahahaha! I feel evil! Thanks for the review m'dear!

Krystie Jamison: Haha sorry about too much glaring, but they glared a lot. I'll try to pay more attention in my editing next angry chapter. Thanks!

Sillytigerlily: Haha of course Jack has a heart! He's not a bad guy, just protective of his ship and all that jazz. Haha I want to see you go pull hair, that'd be fun. I hope you survived until this update, and as always, thanks for reviewing.

Mascara Rain: Haha I'm glad you love history too! And my 7th graders I worked with last may seemed to survive me... haha that's true, I could write on the side. Yeah, I don't know how old you are or anything but if I were a parent I don't think I'd want my kid at a phish concert either.... Lots and lots of drugs EVERYWHERE. Hippies all over doing and selling drugs. I'm sorry about school. No I haven't heard of 3 Dead Trolls in a Baggie, sounds interesting though. Haha yay! Write a Master and Commander fic so I'll have something to read! Do it now! Go! Haha thanks for the review m'dear!

British-luver: Haha if you kidnap me and make my write all day I'd be very happy. As long as you feed me an let me take breaks to pee and watch movies or the history channel to get re-energized every now and then that would be beautiful. Haha I know, poor Olivia right? Silly Pullings and his self-control.... Haha anyway... Olivia's pretty tough so she should be fine on the island... or will she? Mwahahahahaha! I'll update soon so you can find out what evil I have in store for her!

Lily Knotwise: Haha chain her up? Hehe bet Tom would enjoy that... but in a different situation entirely... Whoa that was bad of me to say... Haha oops. Sorry I made Aubrey so mean. It's sad really because he's not mean and I enjoy Jack Aubrey's character you know? You'll see why I had to have her on the island in a bit... just hand with me dear :-)

MusicBoxDancer: More Stephen for you! Merry Christmas! He is such a fun character, he does such strange things... haha like wander around nude quite a bit. Embarrass the crew with his wardrobe... and he never grasps nautical knowledge no matter how many times Jack explains things to him. It's fun.

cAJUNpIPPENpIRATE: Be nice to tourist. I'm studying abroad right now... so I'm a tourist until December. And not traveling means you miss so much cool stuff! Haha. You can be a tourist without being annoying. I promise. Anyway, thanks for the review. Haha Jack has detachable ears... like Mr. Potatohead. Hope you enjoyed this chapter m'dear!

Sleepwalking Dreamer: That was really sweet of you to email a review since you can't go through for some odd reason (I hate when things don't work right). Haha yeah trouble does seem to follow her doesn't it? Hehe that's why it's fun! I'm glad you agree that highly unlikely can be fun. Haha like the whole left on the island thing... I don't think Jack would really do that... but I needed him to and it's just for fun so whatever. And I think about the spy thing you brought up Olivia's point that she so nicely screamed at Jack. Hehe. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll get around to reading your stuff eventually but I haven't read anything on-line since I left home so arrrrgh! Haha but your on my list! Feel free to email me anytime! Thanks!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! And now for bribery... the more you review... the quicker I will post because I'll feel bad for making people wait! So review! Please? I'm in a foreign country in which I discovered hot dogs taste odd and it was sad! So review and make me happy again!


	12. Chatper Twelve

Chapter Twelve

"Fresh water is indeed my friend." Olivia declared out loud to herself as she leaned back in the waist-deep pool. It was her third day on the island and she had decided to explore a bit. Following her water source away from shore she found this lovely spot, and finally decided that since she was alone, she may as well take a bath of sorts. Outdoor bathing struck her as odd at first and she constantly looked about her as if expecting someone to appear and spy on her, but after an hour of soaking she was beginning to get used to it. She had no idea how dirty she felt until she finally got a chance to be clean, and although the pond wasn't exactly a nice warm shower with her lovely scented soaps and shampoos, it was fresh water and better than nothing.

"Well, I guess I have to get up soon." She said, yawning. She then blinked, laughing out loud. "Who am I talking to?" She asked herself. She splashed out of the water and quickly dressed, pulling on her old shorts and shirt. Since she was alone she saw no reason to trip over her dress.

Not sure what to do with herself now she decided to wander down to shore. The sound of the waves was relaxing and she found she could think clearly with some background noise. It was too quiet on the island. Even remote areas back home had some type of noise. Airplanes, traffic on the highways, and the ever-present white noise, filled her world with a constant hum that she now found it to be eerie to be without. She wandered down to shore and settled herself on a rock she found on her first day here, which overlooked the sea, giving her a picture perfect scenic view.

Feeling wonderfully clean she leaned back against the warm stone, closing her eyes, letting the sun dry her hair. The humidity and salt in the air made it curl more than she could ever had guessed. Had Olivia caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror she would hardly recognize the girl looking back. She felt extremely lazy here, passing her time idly. She could not think of what to do with herself, and had wished she'd asked for a book or something to occupy her idle thoughts.

She yawned, feeling suddenly sleepy. She had not slept well during the night, being constantly assaulted by nightmares. The silence and darkness bothered her, and she felt as though she was becoming afraid of the dark again like she had been as a little girl. She sighed, closing her eyes. A nap wouldn't hurt, and it wasn't as if she'd be going anywhere any time soon. Olivia twisted her hair into a knot to make her head more comfortable (a trick learned camping and not remembering a pillow) and was soon fast asleep.

_She was walking arm and arm on a beach with Tom. Suddenly, a wicked idea came to mind. "Race you!" She shouted, taking off at full speed. She laughed as she ran towards the waves, kicking the water back at him. Tom came after her, catching her hand and easily pulling her back to him. He held her close and their eyes locked, she suddenly felt breathless and not from running. She could stay here forever, lost in those eyes. He suddenly lifted her into his arms and spun her around, laughing._

_Olivia cried out in surprise and shrieked with laughter. "Tom! Stop! You'll make me sick! TOM!" She was laughing so hard she could barely speak. Everything seemed so perfect that time seemed to stand still. _

_He finally put her down, still laughing and not releasing her. "Better?" He asked._

_Olivia grinned, "Which one of you said that?" _

_Tom chuckled, cupping her face in his hand and kissing her. _

_"Oh. That one. You're my favorite." She replied, putting her arms around his neck to be close to him._

_He moved his hands down her back to come to rest around her waist, locking her in his warm embrace. "Oh how I love you, Olivia." He said softly, leaning in and kissing her passionately._

_She closed her eyes, feeling safe and secure in his arms while he kissed her. Nothing could possibly go wrong while he was with her. Time stood still and everything seemed to stop. All she could think about was her present, here and now, the rest of the world did not matter one bit. Never in her life had she felt this happy. Suddenly, something felt wrong, as if an alarm went off in her head._

_She opened her eyes just in time to see the flash of a blade and a strange man standing behind Tom. She heard herself scream as the blade fell and saw Tom's face change suddenly. He fell forward, shock and pain in his eyes. She slowed his fall as best she could, unable to support his full weight. The sand turned a sticky red as blood flowed from the wound._

_"Tom!" She cried out in horror, her eyes wide with fear as she desperately reached out for his hand. "Tom!"_

_He looked up at her, his eyes still wide with surprise. "Olivia.... love...." He fell back against the sand, his face strangely lax and his eyes glazed, his grip on her hand suddenly relaxed._

_Olivia screamed again, "TOM!" She knew he was already gone, but she could not accept it. "Tom! Please come back! No!"_

"Tom!" Olivia jerked awake with a gasp, sitting up quickly and almost falling off the rock. Her heart was racing and she struggled to catch her breath. "What a dream." She muttered to herself. It had truly terrified her, and had been so vivid, so real. With a deep breath she looked off into the horizon, and quickly did a double take.

A ship. Was the Surprise back already? She had never really studied the ship from a distance so she could not be sure at a glance. Olivia stood, squinting into the sunlight to see. A boat had been launched and was rowing towards shore. She studied the large ship more carefully, straining to see the name. Wilmington.

"Oh shit!" She cried out, turning and running full speed away from shore. Maybe they didn't see her, after all she was just one girl, and was sleeping. Maybe they missed her. Yeah right, Olivia knew she would never be that lucky. In a panic she looked around her camp. Well, there was always finding a place to hide. She quickly threw her dress on over her clothes, deciding if she was found she ought to at least be properly dressed. It was strange how her mind worked in a crisis. She decided to follow the stream so she wouldn't get lost, and ran off to find a place to hide.

She'd been running for a little while when she stopped, leaning against a tree to catch her breath.

"She can't have gotten far!" A harsh voice broke the silence and Olivia held her breath, listening carefully.

"Tracks lead up stream." Another voice replied. They were getting closer, heading straight for her.

Olivia silently kicked herself for not being more careful and looked around desperately for a place to hide. She looked up, the tree was climbable, nice thick branches, getting up quietly shouldn't be much of a problem. Olivia grabbed onto the nearest branch and swung herself upwards, climbing higher and higher until she felt she was sufficiently hidden. Just as long as they didn't look directly up she would be fine. She watched as two men walked under the tree, holding her breath afraid to move an inch yet shaking in fear. They paused under the tree, looking around. She closed her eyes praying they didn't look up.

"Must have gone that way." One said. His voice was loud and harsh, like sandpaper grating against itself, a sound that always made her skin crawl.

She opened her eyes and watched them move off. She waited a few minutes, her forehead resting against a tree limb as she wondered just how long she ought to stay up here. With amusement she realized that this was probably the one thing Tom had not given instructions about in his nervous rambling before he left. Finally, after listening to the silence around her she decided it was indeed safe to get down.

With a groan she noticed her foot had fallen asleep and bent it in circles in an attempt to get feeling back. She went from branch to branch, as gracefully as she could in a dress, and landed on the ground with a sigh of relief.

That sigh turned into a scream as someone grabbed her from behind, clapping a hand over her mouth, muffling her shout.

"Well, well, what have we here?" It was one of the men who had been searching for her obviously, but up close he was even more terrifying than from in the tree. He was a huge man, towering over Olivia, his teeth were bad and his breath was worse. He removed his hand from her mouth, but kept his grip on her arm, his free hand stroking her cheek, enjoy the power he had over her.

"Let go!" She demanded, she did not like the look in her eyes, and never remembering feeling more frightened in her life.

He merely laughed at her, "Let go? Ha! Oh I'll let go missy, but what will you give me in return hm?" He mocked her, leaning in for a kiss.

Olivia turned her head away in disgust and placed a well-aimed kick that forced him to cry out and double over in pain, she swung a punch that sent him toppling over and made a run for it.

Unfortunately, another man caught her arm. "Hold up there!" He said, laughing. "Stay still!" He ordered, locking her arm in a more secure grip. "Honestly, miss, I'm not going to hurt you."

"That bitch!" The first man groaned from the ground. "That no good-"

"Oh now enough Patterson! You deserved it!" He laughed. "There now Miss, no harm done. What's a lady doing out here by herself anyhow?"

Olivia paused, her mind had gone completely blank. "Oh. Nothing. I live here."

"You live here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Alone?"

"Yep." Olivia replied. "I'm anti-social and so forth and it was decided that this place was best for me. Now, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure, but excuse me I have to-" She attempted to step away and leave but he caught her arm again. "Go." She finished dejectedly.

"Oh no you don't." He said. "The Captain wants to speak with you."

"Why's that?" She asked weakly.

"Bit odd to find a lonely lady on an empty island. Obviously you was stranded. Thought he'd be mannerly and bring you to a civilized port." He said, smiling. "I promise Patterson here won't give you no trouble."

"That isn't very reassuring." She muttered as she was led away. She did not try to run, figuring it would be useless. They would only catch her again. She felt her heart sink as she was helped into a boat and rowed off to the Wilmington. What if they took her with them? Would she ever see Tom again? Would the Surprise find them and believe she really was a spy? Olivia just couldn't see how things could get better; all she could see were worst-case scenarios playing in her mind over and over again.

They reached the ship and she was helped aboard without ceremony. She hardly had difficulty, having spent years climbing rocks, however the fact that every man in sight wanted to help her made things more difficult. The man she kicked was still grumbling as she stood up straight and looked around the ship. She had decided she would show no fear, but she couldn't help feeling incredibly small and alone at the moment. Still, she held her head high and folded her hands calmly behind her back.

"Welcome abroad Miss." She was greeted by a small rat looking man, who smiled slyly at her, as if he knew something. "The Captain wants to see you right away."

Olivia took a deep breath and nodded, following the man to the cabin. The Captain, or the man she assumed as the Captain, sat hunched over maps at a table. He looked up as they entered and smiled at Olivia. "Ah! Our guest has arrived!" He said happily. "Thank you Mr. Martin that will be all."

Mr. Martin nodded, and left, closing the door behind him. Olivia stood uncertainly in the room. She had no idea what was going to happen next and was terrified, but looked calm as she stood there, facing the man who by all rights was the enemy. It was funny that he did not seem frightening at all. He almost looked grandfatherly, smiling kindly at her. His hair was beginning to gray and his eyes sparkled blue as he indicated for her to sit in a nearby chair and offered her a drink.

Olivia politely refused, shifting nervously in her seat. She glanced around the room, taking everything in at once.

He nodded, returning to his seat. "I'm Captain Fokes, welcome abroad the Wilmington." He said. "May I have your name?"

"Olivia, Olivia Corin." She replied, not offering any more information.

"You seem frightened dear girl. Why on earth would you be?" He asked.

Olivia raised an eyebrow, surprised. "You kidnapped me." She pointed out.

The Captain laughed, "You shall come to no harm, I assure you. That is, if you cooperate." He added as a sort of afterthought.

"Cooperate with what?" She asked, baffled.

"My men had a good look at your camp. It is clear you came from that English ship, the Surprise." He said, calmly sipping his drink.

"What of it?" Olivia asked shortly.

"Any information you might be able to share with us would be most appreciated." He said. "Any at all."

Olivia shook her head, "I don't remember anything of value, sir." She replied quickly.

He studied her a moment, his eyes suddenly turned cool and calculating. He then smiled again, "Well, perhaps after you rest you will be more willing to help." He said, getting up. "You will be coming with us after all."

Olivia jumped to her feet. "What? Sir, I beg you to return me to the island. I assure you I am in no danger."

"Now, now, Miss Corin. I cannot in good conscience leave a young woman such as yourself alone on an island now can I?" He said, maddeningly calm.

"Please." Olivia begged, her heart pounding. "Please take me back."

"Perhaps." The Captain said, his calculating gaze on her again. "Perhaps if you tell me where the Surprise was headed. Are they coming after us? Where did they set course?" He asked.

Olivia licked her lips, weighing her options. She would not betray the Surprise, but could she give false information? She thought on it a moment, then decided that she doubted she could make up false information that would be believable, then she'd be in even more trouble. She shook her head, "I cannot say."

"Cannot? Or will not?" He snarled, suddenly his mood was very changed and Olivia stepped back in fear. As quick as if had changed the first time he became happy once more, and smiled at her. "Well, my dear, then I cannot take you back to your island." He said, emphasizing the 'cannot' with a sinister grin. "Perhaps after you rest, you will be of more use. Tomorrow, you will have one more chance to give what information I requested. If you do not, well, my dear Miss Corin, I cannot ensure you will have a pleasant trip." He gave her a small bow, mocking her. "Good day." With these words, he turned and left Olivia alone.

She sank back into her chair, all her worries flew around her head and she closed her eyes tightly, hoping she would open them and find herself back on the island, or better yet, back on the Surprise. When she opened them and found herself still in the great cabin of the Wilmington, she sighed. "Okay Tom." She muttered under her breath. "If ever I needed a knight in shining armor to swoop in and rescue me, now would be the time." She would tell Fokes nothing of course. Not that she really knew anything, all she really knew was that the Surprise was looking for the Wilmington, but she would still not say one word about it to him. Captain Aubrey and his crew had been very kind to her, and even if she were not engaged to the first lieutenant, she would still feel some loyalty to the ship. It was strange though, here she was on an American ship and her loyalties were too the British. The irony was not lost on her and she smiled wearily.

"Well, Olivia." She said to herself, standing up and stretching. "You never do what you're supposed to anyway."

With that she went and laid down to rest, but sleep did not take her. She could not for the life of her stop thinking. She wondered with fear what Captain Fokes had meant by not ensuring a 'pleasant trip'. She certainly did not like the implications, and she remembered the look in that man, Patterson's eyes when he had caught her. She shuddered, feeling quite sick, and somehow managed to drift off into a fretful sleep, hoping that tomorrow the Surprise and Tom would magically appear to her rescue.

* * *

A/N: Bum bum bum!!! What? You thought I'd just let Olivia sit around on the island and then Tom would come and pick her up and they'd get married and have cute babies and live happily ever after? Haha well I can't do things that easily! Olivia's in a bit of a spot isn't she? Yeah, I know the dream thing was corny and odd but I couldn't help it! Anyway, will Captain Fokes be a jerk? Will Mr. Pullings rescue his truelove? Will Olivia kick anymore sailors in the balls? Tune in next time on "As the Surprise Sails!" (also known as "To Wives and Sweethearts" because I stink at titles). 

TheMusingFit: Haha I had a roommate while I wrote most of this story and yes, she thought I was nuts. But she was crazy too so it really didn't matter much. She's also a good idea bouncer even though she'd never read the books or seen the movie at the time... actually I just enjoy saying my thoughts out loud because it helps me think and she just happened to be there at the time... anyway! The moral of the story is, don't be afraid to let your roommate know you are insane. Because insanity is fun. And what will the midshipmen think? Probably that Mr. Pullings was getting it on with Olivia hehe.... Did I just say that? Bad me! Bad! Haha thanks for the lovely review and hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Fawks: Haha don't squeal like a rabid fan girl too much... it'll hurt your throat. And you don't need to thank me for posting haha. Thank YOU for reviewing! A book? By me? Haha um... that'd be a scary scary odd book. This story is a total of 83 pages single spaced on word? Does that count as a book? I think it does... it's the longest thing I've ever written haha. Happy reading!

Sarah: Aw... I'm sorry your chapter 10 review wasn't there... that's sad. Haha well I'm sorry if you waited too long for this chapter. I started to post it yesterday but then my computer was retarded and deleted the whole dang thing (pokes it). Sugar highs are fun. Next sugar high you're on thing about how funny the name Pullings is. Hehe. Pullings! It's just fun to say. It's also extremely easy to gutter... hehe but I won't go there. Here's the chapter. Hope you aren't too insane! And as always, thanks for reviewing m'dear! Cheers!

CAJUNpIPPENpIRATE: Haha Jack's an elf??? Whoa! That's awesome! Haha British accents are pretty hot aren't they? Though I'm living in England right now and am getting used to them because I hear them everywhere, and sometimes I don't understand what the heck these people are saying because they talk so darn fast! (pokes them) SLOW DOWN!! Anyway, haha, enough of my exchange student woes (and I have a ton of them....) the Pirates soundtrack does rock. I listened to it when I walked up to campus today. It was fun. Listening to bluegrass while walking around England is fun too just because it's weird to listen to bluegrass in England. How long will that spoon last? Well... what's the spoon made out of? That makes a difference you know. Glad you enjoyed the chapter and hope you liked this one! Thanks for the review m'dear!

Lily Knotwise: Hahaha the chains on my... yeah bet those two will have a very interesting wedding night.... but let's not go there now.... haha. Well I kept writing and I hope you're still reading. And I hope even more you're still enjoying it! Hehe! Thanks for reviewing!

Serena: Haha okay I'll try not to keep you waiting too long. And as for a sequel, I mentally have scenes for a sequel in my mind... I just haven't put most of them down in story format, you know? And I may not at all... it really depends. The sequel is insane. Really really insane. Haha. And it has very little plot other than funny moments and cute ones. So maybe I'll write and post it.... Maybe I won't... really depends as I said. Haha as for hints... well... hints on the sequel or hints on this story? Tell you what.. I'm not big on secrets and I love spoilers myself so if you email me at MaturinBean02 at yahoo (sorry about the format of my writting the email address... it's really like a normal email with the but is a pain and kept deleting that... jerks) I'll tell you whatever... maybe. I have the right to refuse information you know.. hehe. Anyway, thanks for the lovely review and being interested in this story.... It amazes me that you want more even after this story haha... wow! Thanks!

British-luver: Haha you've planed my kidnapping? Well hate to make you change those plans but I'm in England now.. haha I'm tricksy like that! Actually I'm studying abroad... if classes ever start and I get to the studying part of this deal (pokes slow university for not having classes start yet). Actually, school makes me write more believe it or not. Most people it's the other way around, but writing junk like this is my way of taking a break... and most of my ideas hit me in class because I'm easily distracted like that. Like I recall writing most of this chapter on a snowy day between my history of Japan class and econ 111. Go figure. Anyway... glad you're enjoying this story. And thanks for the wonderful reviews that amuse me to no end! Hope you liked this chapter and hope to hear from you again! Hehe! Thanks!

Sillytigerlily: Haha, yeah I figured Olivia may as well except that she's a Mary-Sue... haha couldn't resist it. Haha well, she's no longer marooned.... but she's also um... in trouble... so what else is new? Anyway, thanks for the review. If I start keeping you waiting too long feel free to email me and poke me with a stick. That's how you get results... hehe! Hope you enjoyed the update!

All you reviewers seriously rock! I love hearing from you and you have no idea how much you amuse and brighten my day! Yaaaaaay for you!!!!!

Now, for my usual begging for reviews. Please review. Good or bad. I don't take offense to criticism because it's a fact of life and I'm used to it. I just like hearing from people! I'm an ocean away from home and start classes Monday (hopefully...) and need something to make me happy and amused! So review and I will love you forever! Don't review and I'll... um.... well I won't do anything because I won't know if you read and don't review... because how could I? But review anyway because it's nice! Thanks m'dears!!

Until next time... happy reading!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

It was near noon the next day when Captain Fokes returned. Olivia had not seen anyone else all day, and had barely slept. They had given her food but she could barely force herself to eat any of it. She wondered what would happen next in fear, pacing restlessly from one side of the cabin to the next. She looked up when he came in, swallowing hard.

He smiled at her, taking a seat and indicating for her to do the same. "Good afternoon Miss Corin." He greeted. "I hope you are well?"

Olivia found her voice rather small and unfamiliar as she replied. "Good afternoon."

"I have a few questions, if you would be so good as to answer them?" He said, pouring himself a drink and lazily sipping it. He did not wait for Olivia to reply, for she watched him silently. "What are you on the Surprise? The gunner's wife perhaps?"

Olivia decided to answer that question, it seemed harmless enough, but she would answer simply. "No." She replied shortly. "I am not the gunner's wife."

"Well then, who are you?" He replied, his eyes narrowing.

"Nobody." She replied. "They happened upon me."

Captain Fokes glared at her. "That is a lie, dear Miss Corin, and a ridiculous one at that."

Olivia looked at him evenly, almost enjoying being coy and secretive. "I'm not lying." She replied.

"What are you? Some whore that a sailor smuggled aboard?" He shot back, his glare penetrating.

"Excuse me?" Olivia glared back, now she was insulted and angry and felt her temper flare. "I'm no one's whore, sir." She said coldly.

"No. You were very well supplied back on that island, and your dress, it looks new." He said, sizing her up. "The Captain's girl perhaps?"

Olivia's eyes narrowed, "No." She replied shortly.

He waved his hand, as if dismissing the subject. "In any case, you were well supplied, and obviously, they wanted you safe, and they must have a reason for that."

Olivia stayed silent, sitting perfectly still and straight backed. She waited for him to come to whatever conclusions he would, it didn't matter to her what he thought.

"Well, you have had time to consider offering me what information you have on the location of the Surprise. What say you?" He said, drumming his fingers on the table and drinking his wine.

Olivia took a deep breath; putting what confidence she had behind her voice. "My answer is still no. I'm not going to tell you anything."

"Why my dear? You are obviously not English. What loyalty do you owe them?" He asked, watching her closely from across the table.

"It doesn't matter. They were kind to me, and saved my life. I am not going to betray them." She replied, her eyes calmly meeting his. "I don't care what you do, I'm not going to tell you anything."

He stood slowly, his face quite red. Olivia swallowed hard, nervously watching him. She wasn't sure what he was going to do to her, but she didn't like the look in his eyes. She would stand by what she said however, and despite her fear, her stubborn side was fueling her determination.

Suddenly, he turned back to her, knocking the table over in a rage. Olivia jumped at the sound, her heart racing. Fokes was at her chair, inches from her face, gripping her arms painfully. "I have asked you nicely Miss Corin, but you refused. Now, I am afraid I shall have to be uncivil." He pulled her to her feet, pushing her against a nearby wall with force. He was obviously more powerful than she was, and easily trapped her.

Olivia felt a surge of panic, and tried to get away, but he was holding her far to tightly. She felt suffocated under his weight, and his hands seemed to be everywhere, bruising her skin. She had to stop him, but she could not move. She gathered up what salvia she could and spit, clean in his eye.

He stepped back, his face twisted in disgust as he wiped his eye. She had never seen anyone look at her with such anger and pure hatred. She tried to get away, but he still had a grip on her arm and pulled her back violently. He struck her hard, hitting her again and again, too quickly for Olivia to fight back. He knocked her to the floor, but he didn't stop pounding her. Olivia eventually lost consciousness, and he looked down at her in disgust.

"Stupid girl." He muttered, he opened the door and called for the surgeon. While she deserved a beating it would not do for the girl to die. She was more useful alive, information or no. Besides, he doubted she would hold out too long under a harsh fist. He calmly went out on deck, as if nothing had happened. He would either break her, or use her, or both, it mattered little to him.

* * *

Olivia did not wake up for some time. She had no idea how long she'd been, but she ached something awful, and she could not open her right eye complete. Olivia had never been in so much pain. She wanted to cry, but refused to do so, furiously wiping her eyes, careful not to press the right terribly hard. She would not give in. She would not show them she was in pain or afraid. She could not help however, wondering if what little she knew of the Surprise was worth all this effort. She slowly got to her feet, biting her lip to keep from crying out. Luckily, it seemed the surgeon had seen to her, for she found a few bandages where the pain seemed worse. She shuddered to think what her now purple, blue, black, and even green skin looked like under the bandages.

"Well, at least I'm colorful now." She muttered. "Bastard used me as a regular punching bag." She wondered how often he would hit her like this for she doubted she could take another pounding. She wasn't sure whether she should stand or sit. The chair was painful on her bruises, but her head was spinning while standing. It was quite the paradox.

Olivia closed her eyes, feeling sick. Her thoughts seemed fuzzy somehow, and she could not focus for her life. She wondered vaguely if they had given her anything, perhaps the surgeon gave her something for the pain and it was affecting her now? Her head was suddenly positively swimming, and she sank to her knees, unable to get back to the cot. She did not even look up as someone entered, and approached her. However, she did cry out as rough hands gripped her arm, pulling her to her feet.

To her surprise, she was immediately released, "I'm so sorry Miss. Did I hurt you?" A concerned voice asked in alarm. "I thought perhaps the laudanum the doctor gave you might have dulled your mind completely.

Olivia looked up to see a short and fat young man standing over her, red faced and eyes wide in alarm. He seemed genuinely concerned and knelt beside her. "Are you all right?" He asked softly.

She glared at him in spite of herself, "Do I look all right?" She asked sharply.

He flushed again, "No Miss, I'm afraid you don't look at all well." He replied. "And if I may speak freely I think it was right shabby that the Captain abused you so." He stuttered over these words, knowing full well that they could land him in a great deal of trouble, however, he felt they must be said and he would not feel right otherwise.

Olivia had not been expecting such kindness, and she stared at him, her somewhat dulled mind trying its best to decipher any treachery or hidden meanings. "Thank you." She whispered, finding it difficult to speak.

He smiled, pleased by her thanks. "Is there anything I can get you Miss?" He asked, desperately wanting to feel as if he helped her in some small way.

Olivia fought the urge to tell him to get her out of here for she knew that was not in his power, whoever he was. "If I could have some water?"

He jumped to his feet. "Of course Miss!" He hurried off and quickly reappeared, with water, which Olivia gratefully accepted. "There you are."

Olivia drank, careful not to drink too much. She did not want to make herself even more sick than she already felt. "Thank you." She said, handing the cup back to the eager young man.

He hesitated a moment, "I am ashamed to say that I have been ordered to secure you in a chair with rope, Captain's orders." He said cautiously. "However, if you promise not to struggle, I promise to make the knots loose so they will not pain you."

Olivia could see the conflict the young man was faced with. On the one hand he had to obey orders, yet he knew that treating her so badly was wrong, and he wished he did not have to follow these orders. She suddenly felt a great deal of pity towards the poor sailor and nodded. "Very well then." She said. "Will you help me to my feet?"

He gently assisted her, supporting her as they crossed the room and lowered her into the chair. He seemed reluctant to tie the rope and slowly began securing her wrists to the chair. "Now you tell me if it is too tight Miss." He told her.

Olivia managed a brave smile and nodded. The poor man seemed terribly distressed by his task and apologized with every knot he tied. When he was finished Olivia was secured to the chair, but as comfortably as possible. The man stepped back, his head lowered and his poor face positively flaming.

"I am so sorry Miss. Truly I am." He said. "I am so very ashamed." He admitted, unable to look at her at all.

"Listen." Olivia said, feeling quite sorry for him. "You are only doing your duty. I understand." She assured him. "And I will not forget your kindness."

He looked up, and gave her a small smile. "You are a very brave creature, Miss. A bit too stubborn I believe, but very brave." He gave her a small bow. "Good day, Miss." He said, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Olivia called out, causing him to turn back. "Didn't catch your name."

"McCabe, Miss." He told her. "I know you are Miss Corin."

Olivia nodded, "Thank you Mr. McCabe, for your kindness."

"It was the least I could do, Miss Corin." He told her, turning and leaving her alone in the room once more.

It was not long before Captain Fokes entered. He smiled at her smugly; obviously enjoy the control he had over her. He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. She did not say a word, but her eyes clearly reflected her thoughts about this man.

"Not even a greeting my dear?" He asked. "You really ought to work on your manners."

Olivia glared up at him, "You're one to talk."

He laughed, "Oh, I suppose you are angry with me." He sat in front of her, putting his hands on one of hers. "But you, dear Miss Corin were awfully rude, I only asked a simple question." He stroked her knuckles with his thumb. "You have such soft skin." He whispered. "Lovely."

Olivia swallowed hard, he was frightening her and she wished he would move away. "What are you doing?"

"It is merely a compliment." He said. "You needn't be defensive." His hand moved to her face, and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

She shuddered at his hand, "Don't touch me." She demanded. The man was unbalanced and she did not like what she believed he might be building up to one bit. He revolted her, positively made her stomach turn with fear, and she could not stand the thought of him touching her in any manner.

He only laughed, "Don't touch you? My dear Miss Corin, you refuse to give any useful information, you have to serve some purpose after all." He smirked, leaning forward, his face very close to hers. "What, I wonder, shall I do with you?"

Olivia turned her head to the side, repulsed. "You're a very cruel man, Captain Fokes." She said, her eyes dark with hate.

"Spirited lady you are, Miss Corin." He replied. "My father had a horse like you once, spirited, willful creature, but in the end, it was broken. The question is, what must I do to break you?"

He stood, circling her like a vulture. She felt so defenseless. She saw no way out and knew he had the power. Suddenly he grabbed a fistful of her hair and jerked her head back. She cried out in pain as he leaned over her with a smug look. "What will it be, my dear? How much more pain can you endure?" He turned his head to the side, studying her, "Or perhaps something more, how shall I say, pleasurable?"

Suddenly, his lips were upon hers, violently, demanding. She twisted her head away in disgust, crying out in pain as he pressed his hands against her bruises. Thankfully, a knock at the door came to her rescue and Fokes pulled away in annoyance.

"What?" He demanded, stepping away from a tearful Olivia.

It was Mr. McCabe. He looked from Olivia to the Captain and spoke urgently. "Sir, the Surprise, she is gaining on us, sir."

Captain Fokes swore and stormed out of the cabin. "Watch her!" He ordered.

McCabe stood still a moment, looking surprised. Then he studied Olivia, and stood in silence a moment before building up the courage to ask, "Miss Corin, you're crying. Are you all right?"

Olivia had honestly not realized she had started crying and swallowed hard. "I.... I am not sure."

McCabe was about to reply when the Captain reappeared. "To your station Mr. McCabe." He ordered as he stormed towards Olivia. He untied her and jerked her to her feet. "You, come with me now!" He demanded angrily, dragging her along with him. It wasn't that she was resisting, it was that she could not seem to make her feet move fast enough. Her knees were weak and her head spun as he dragged her up onto the quarterdeck. The moment she saw the Surprise her heart jumped. She had never felt so much relief in her life. They were coming. Tom was coming. Surely things would be all right now.

Captain Fokes tightened his painfully tight grip on her arm and pushed her forward. "Now we shall see how much you are worth to them." He hissed.

* * *

A/N: Okay, everyone throw rocks at Captain Fokes! He is a strange and evil evil character! He was trying to do not nice things to Olivia! She needs a rape whistle! Or an emergency pole to act as base! Haha sorry.... inside campus jokes there. Anyway, this chapter is kind of short, but it's the best way to break the story up methinks. Seriously, the end is all one long saga and there's no good way to break it up into readable pieces. Next chapter SHOULD be longer... I think. Haven't page counted yet, but it seems like it should be!

Tom is on his way! Bum bum bum! Will he manage to get there and save his beloved Olivia? Will Captain Aubrey believe she's a spy? Tune in next time to.... As the Surprise Sails! (I seriously think that might have to be the name of this story now.... Haha)

Calliope-Elven-Agent: Haha it rocks your socks? Wow. Yes, I'm putting Olivia through all this junk to punish you... either that or I'm just plain mean. Okay, actually I'm just plain mean and enjoy character abuse. Hope whoever is hitting you with a rock isn't giving you brain damage! Thanks for the lovely review! And I hope you escaped the men in the white coats from the loony bin.

Gaeriel Palpatine: Haha you're behind m'dear! Though I'll respond here anyway so when you DO catch up you can read this... haha so I have no idea what you said Tom was because my French is appalling. Seriously. I passed the three years in high school and two semesters I had to take at university too but I still don't know anything at all. Isn't that sad? I'll tell Tom that if Olivia dumps him he can date you next. Right now he's in the kitchen eating all my ice cream, silly Tom. Thanks for the lovely reviews and keep on reading!

Sillytigerlily: Haha I'll always remember my little powder monkeys! If I ever write a book I'll dedicate it to all my little powder monkeys! Haha little powder monkeys... I love it. The name Fokes... haha... actually Fokes was my 11th grade English teacher. I don't think he'll be too pleased that I named this character after him. But Mr. Fokes was one of my favorite teachers ever! He made fun of people but was so witty in how he did it that the stupid people at school never knew he was making fun of them. And he picked on my constantly, but I'm one of those people who enjoys being picked on in class and I never got in trouble with him so I didn't care. But he told me I wasn't "Harvard bound" and my paper was "on the top of the stack" which was a bad thing... but I always argued that being on top should be a good thing. He also used to constantly call on me to answer questions about color symbolism.... yellow is licentious! He pushed me, but that's a good thing. Teachers who push are ones who will actually teach you something. I don't know... for some reason he thought I had potential or something... in his round about Mr. Fokes way he pushed me into applying myself and between him and my 12th grade English teacher they really taught me just about everything I know about writing, which has been a good thing being a history major and having a million papers to write all the time. Um... anyway.... that was more information than you really needed to know... so basically, I needed a name so I randomly used his because when I was writing this chapter one of my old friends back home told me Mr. Fokes was retiring. Unfortunately, the character is evil. But he'll never read it so meh! I'm glad you like the plot twist. Even more important I'm glad you think there's a plot! Everything is coming to its dramatic conclusion! Bum bum buuuuum! Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

British-Luver: Haha well I'm glad I had you on the edge of your seat, but please don't fall out of your chair! Haha you can kidnap me... as long as you feed me these dairy milk candy bar deallies I've discovered. Seriously. I am addicted to them now. I think I'm going to have to fill a suitcase with nothing but chocolate when I go home because I'll miss them! Anyway, enough of my insanity. I'm glad you enjoyed the update and the dream. Haha yeah I have no idea where the dream came from either... it just sort of happened. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't worry, the very dashing Pullings (hehe I love how you said that) will be in the next one... the question is... what will he think is going on? Mwahahahaha..... thanks for the review! Your reviews are positively too nice! Seriously, I don't think I've ever gotten such nice reviews! If you were here I'd let you get into the stash of Cadbury chocolate bars I have in my drawer (haha I seriously have an addiction now... back home I'm addicted to cheese... here it's chocolate... which is worse for me you think?) but seeing how you're not here you're just going to have to get the official "Gold Star" of the day. Yay you! (gives you gold star) Use it wisely. Until next time!

Sakai213: Well thank you for reviewing! And reading all 12 chapters at once, wow! You have more patience than I do. I have to attention span of a fly and only read things like at MOST two chapters at a time. Thanks for the lovely review and I hope you like the new chapter! Happy reading!

Fawks: Haha I am mean aren't I? And I just got meaner... mwahahaha character abuse! Olivia's going to need therapy after I'm done with her. Tom too. I think there's going to have to be a psychologist who is trained to go around and clean up the messes I make out of characters' mental states. Hope you enjoy the new chapter and it meets your expectations! Thanks for reviewing!

TheMusingFit: Haha no cute babies as of yet, sorry. And as usual, Olivia is in trouble. Hey, she has to go through lots of crap because... well... because! I'm glad you like the name Fokes. Mr. Fokes was my 11th grade English teacher actually. Haha though he wasn't evil like this Fokes. The teacher Fokes was one of the best teachers I had in high school. His name just got used because one of my friends back home told me he was retiring the day I was writing this section. I don't think he'd like me using his name for such an evil character... but what he don't know won't hurt him eh? Now.... What will Jack and Tom think? You'll just have to wait and see won't you? Mwahahaha! Thanks for reading m'dear! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Lily Knotwise: You didn't see this coming? Yay! I thought I was being too predictable with the whole "kidnappish" type story-line. I'm glad you didn't think the dream was corny, and haha can you imagine how cute Tom with a bunch of little toddlers and babies will be? Haha awwww..... anyway, thanks for reviewing! And thanks for reading! And I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Serena: Haha I already emailed you a long time ago. But thanks for reviewing and hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

ArcherofDarkness: Haha knight in a dirty boat is on his way... but will he save her? You'll just have to read and find out won't you? Sorry the spoon proved to be too much of a challenge, but I'm sure you'll need that spoon in the future to eat things. Enjoy the chapter m'dear!

Sleepwalking Dreamer: Thanks for emailing me a review! I feel special :-) I enjoyed reading your review, it amused me a great deal hehe. Dude... cannibals... that would have been cool! Haha. Okay, not really, just because I've seen Cannibal the Musical one too many times.... Haha Olivia could have been made Queen of the Island! Whoo! Okay, I've had too much chocolate today and not enough sleep. Not a good combination. Haha Tom spying on Olivia while she was bathing... I actually had that idea at one point in time... and then they um.... yeah.... anyway, I ended up not going that direction. Let's keep Tom and gentleman shall we? Though those of us whose heads are in the gutter would have certainly enjoyed that scene methinks. And having them get caught by someone would have been extremely funny. Maybe next time... ;-) Captain Fokes is nothing like Captain Aubrey. Captain Fokes seriously has some mental issues and is rather scary. At one point I was thinking of having Fokes be nice, but then I decided that would be pointless and confusing and it's more fun to write a seriously evil bad guy so everyone will be happy when he gets his butt kicked, you know? Anyway, Tom is on his way... will he save the poor beaten up Olivia and sail her off into the sunset? I'm not telling mwahahaha. You're just going to have to read and find out! Thanks for reviewing!


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Tom watched intently as the American Privateer, the Wilmington, grew larger as the Surprise closed on her. It was a fine ship, true enough, and the crew spoke excitedly of prize money, but Tom had not given that a single thought. All he really wanted was to finish this mission and go back to retrieve Olivia. He was worried about her, and he could not help but worry that something may happen. There was so much that could go wrong and she was there completely alone. He wished in hindsight that he had asked the Captain to leave someone with her. He knew it would have been foolish to ask if he could be left as well, but anyone would have done. But he knew nothing could be done now except complete the mission as soon as possible, and so Tom threw himself into his duties with tireless determination that they would succeed in taking the Wilmington.

The Captain appeared beside him, glass in hand. The excitement of the chase took years off of the Jack's face, his expression as eager as a young midshipman. Tom greeted him with the usual respect. "Good morning sir."

The Captain nodded his greeting, "We are making excellent time, Tom." He said putting his glass to his eye. "It should not be long until-" He stopped his sentence suddenly and his expression changed. His face darkened, as if angry and he looked again, as if straining to see something.

"Sir? Is something wrong?" Tom asked; concerned with what would make the Captain appear so agitated.

Jack wordlessly handed his glass over to his lieutenant, unsure he could find the words to tell him what he saw. Tom took it with a curious look to his Captain and looked for himself.

Tom scanned the quarterdeck of the Wilmington, looking for whatever the Captain saw. He let out an audible gasp when he found it. There stood Olivia, with a pistol at her throat. The man holding it also had a firm grasp on her, his head next to hers, pushing her forward so she would be in view of the Surprise. Tom felt a surge of panic for there was little he could do from where he stood. Hatred for the man, who he assumed was the Captain of the Wilmington, filled him and raged like a wild fire. How dare he touch her? Tom forced the glass away from his eye and clenched his jaw painfully in anger. He wanted nothing more than to get to that ship and rip that man apart with his bare hands.

He was not aware of moving, but he must have, for the Captain caught his arm. "Restrain yourself Mr. Pullings." He ordered softly so no one else would hear.

Tom stared at Captain Aubrey a moment, as if he barely heard his words or could not understand them. He realized he was shaking, his hands in fists so tight that his nails where digging into his skin. He forced himself to unclench his fists and took a deep, shaky breath. "But sir.... Olivia." Was all he could manage to say. He had never felt so afraid and had not known this horrible feeling was possible. It was not fear for himself, that he had felt many times in battle, no, it was fear for Olivia, fear of seeing someone he loved come to harm, or losing her completely.

Captain Aubrey placed a firm hand on his shoulder, as if to reassure him somehow. "I know Tom." He said, his voice calmer than Tom's obviously, but also held some anger in it. It was damned barbaric of this man to use the poor woman and hold her up like a display of power. He had a feeling he knew what the Wilmington's Captain was planning to do with Miss Corin, and he hated him for it. For a moment Jack cursed himself for ever suspecting Miss Corin and leaving her on that island, but he could not dwell on his past mistakes. The present situation called for his complete attention.

Tom was still quite pale and shaken. Indeed the Captain had never seen him react like this in any situation, no matter how life threatening. Jack kept his grip on the man's shoulder, as if to steady him. "But now is not the time for anything rash or ill planned." Jack told him. "We will save her, Tom." He assured. "But we must use caution in doing so, for her safety."

Tom swallowed several times to find his voice, and slowly he stopped shaking and unclenched his now sore jaw. "Aye sir." He managed, his voice not at all as it usually sounded.

Jack, now assured the man would not run off and do anything foolishly heroic to save Miss Corin, released his shoulder. The Surprise came along side her, as planned, gun crews ready to run out at Jack's command, and he had no doubt that the guns of the Wilmington were equally alert.

The Captain of the Wilmington did not move from where he stood with Olivia, nor did he waste time with formal niceties. He immediately hollered over in a booming voice. "Gentlemen, it appears that I have found something of yours." He nudged Olivia forward slightly, pistol still to her head.

"Using an innocent woman as a bargaining tool, sir, is not the conduct of a gentlemen. Release her. She has nothing to do with either my ship or yours." Jack replied firmly with a glance at Tom, who was focused on Miss Corin at the moment.

"Ah." The Wilmington's Captain smiled slyly. "But as the lovely Miss Corin will be sure to tell you, sir, I do not always act as a gentleman." He jerked Olivia around and practically threw her across the deck into the arms of two rather large men, who grabbed her arms tightly, causing Olivia to cry out in pain.

Tom could stand no more of this as his face turned white with rage, the words rang in his ears, "do not always act as a gentleman", his throat went dry with anger, what had he done to her? She was obviously in pain, but had this man violated her? Tom wanted nothing more than to rip him limb from limb at the mere thought of someone harming Olivia in any way, someone touching his future bride.

"You bastard!" He shouted out, surging forward. Had Captain Aubrey not caught his arm and Mr. Bonden the other, Tom would have surely attempted to leap across and take on the entire Wilmington crew single-handed.

"Tom, restrain yourself." Jack muttered. "Think of her safety. Should you rush into this she will surely be shot." These words caught Tom's attention and he calmed himself, well, as much as he could calm himself, he was still shaking with rage.

The Wilmington's Captain merely laughed, "Oh I see. So she's yours is she?" He mocked Tom, stepping over to Olivia and tracing her face with a finger. She jerked her head away defiant to the last, and he smiled. "I must say sir, you picked a fine lass. Though, her face is not so fine to look at now is it?" He said with a cold smirk.

"Go to Hell." Olivia spat, her eyes ever cold with hate.

"Ha! You hear that? Spirited to the last." He laughed, stepping away from her again and turning to address the Surprise. "Now, as enjoyable as this game is gentlemen, I shall name my terms. You will surrender your ship to me, Captain Fokes." He cocked his pistol, pointing it once more at Olivia's head. "Or Miss Corin will die."

Tom blanched, biting his lip to keep from shouting out just what he thought of Fokes. He looked at his Captain, praying he had a plan.

Jack looked at his officer, and sadly shook his head. "You know I cannot agree to his terms Tom." He said softly.

Tom looked down, his worry plain on his face. Finally he looked up and nodded. "I understand sir." He said, trying to put some confidence in his voice. He did not blame him at all for he knew that they could not simply surrender the ship. He also suspected while surrendering may stop Fokes from right out shooting Olivia, it would not ensure her safety. It was a downright impossible situation, with no clean solution in sight.

"We must proceed as planned then, and hope for the best." He sighed, frustrated at the situation as well. "I'm sorry Tom."

"Aye sir." He replied, not daring to look across to Olivia for fear of losing his mind. "So am I."

"Well sir! What is your decision?" Captain Fokes shouted over.

Jack exchanged a look with Tom, and regretfully made his reply. "Sir, I regret that I cannot agree to such terms."

Fokes sighed, "Such a waste sir." He said with a bow. He then turned back to Olivia, raising his weapon. "Very well then."

Olivia had been numbly listening to what was happening. She knew that Captain Aubrey would not surrender his ship, and she was glad of it for she did not want to see that evil man win so easily. She would not have been happy if the Surprise had surrendered to save her, and she had her doubts he would release her anyway. She was afraid of dying, certainly, but she felt she may rather die than face what she felt might happen if she stayed on this ship another day. She looked up, seeing Captain Fokes taking aim and swallowed hard. She refused to cry out, she would not give him the satisfaction of showing weakness. Nor did she want the last thing she saw to be him, instead she turned her head to look to the Surprise, finding Tom.

It was easy enough to spot him, and she knew right away that he was watching her as well. Their eyes seemed to lock across the ships, and Tom launched himself forward, desperate to get over there. Only Captain Aubrey's firm arm across his chest and pulling him back prevented him from doing so. Tom struggled against him until Captain Aubrey said something and he stopped suddenly, pushing away from his Captain, with a defeated look on his face. It was terrible to see for she had never seen him look so afraid. She suddenly realized that meeting his eyes as she faced death and him helpless to stop it was destroying him, and so reluctantly, she turned her eyes away, closing them. She didn't want to remember the defeated look in his eyes, she wanted to remember Tom happy, the Tom she adored. She drew herself up, waiting for the shot to come, a wait that seemed to be lasting a lifetime.

On the Surprise Tom watched in terror, feeling so helpless and defeated. His natural reaction had been to get over to that ship no matter what and save her, but the Captain had stopped him, telling him there was nothing he could do now, it was beyond his control. These words had hit hard, and Tom felt overwhelmingly defeated. Never before had he felt such a blow, as if all the hope left him at once. He had failed her. He had promised Olivia he would take care of her and now, there was nothing he could do to save her. He could only stand there and watch as she was coldly murdered, shot by that heartless bastard. He could not take his eyes from her and stared at the scene before him in morbid fascination. It was as if he were in a dream, watching, though not comprehending what was going to happen, and so he stared, watching his love as she tried to bravely face death, but trembled in fear before the pistol.

"Turn away Tom." Captain Aubrey said quietly in his ear. The man should not watch this. No man should see the woman he loved shot in cold blood and be helpless to stop it. Losing a loved one was difficult enough, especially in a violent death, but watching it happen with his own eyes would destroy any man's mind completely.

Tom did not move. He had heard the Captain's words, but did not pay heed to them. He found that now he knew he could do nothing he could not move at all, he could only stand there, frozen, and watch.

"Mr. Pullings, turn away." He said more firmly, finally taking Tom's arm and physically turning him from the Wilmington. "That is an order."

All the fight was gone from Tom and he allowed himself to be turned. "Sir, he'll kill her." He said softly, in disbelief that anyone could do such a heartless thing.

Jack closed his eyes a moment, also shaken by the turn of these events. He gave the man's shoulder a firm grip in attempt at comfort of sorts. "You should not bear witness to his crimes." He said. "I want you to go below and lead the gun crews Tom. Do not look to the Wilmington. Focus on the battle, win for her."

Tom swallowed the lump that had been growing in his throat and nodded stiffly. Reluctantly, he turned to go, following the Captain's orders and not looking to Olivia and the Wilmington, though it pained him greatly.

Olivia could not stand the wait much longer. Her head spun as she squeezed her eyes shut. Despite her best efforts she felt her legs growing weaker and her entire body shaking in fear. Suddenly, she heard the shot ring out and tensed. However, she did not feel a thing. Her eyes snapped open as the man near her, to keep her from running, cried out and collapsed to the deck. There was Captain Fokes, lying on the deck, pistol fired, with McCabe holding him down.

Tom jumped as the shot rang out. That was it. She was gone. His vision blurred with tears that he blinked away furiously. He would not cry in front of the men. However, he suddenly realized that several of the men on the Surprise were cheering. He stopped, and looked to the Wilmington.

Olivia was still standing. She seemed unharmed, though startled out of her wits. Tom turned and ran back to the Captain, who was also looking equally surprised. "Sir?"

"A man gave Fokes quite a shove a the right moment causing him to miss Olivia and hit the man beside her." The Captain quickly explained.

Tom's eyes widened, "Thank God." He murmured in relief. However, she was not out of danger yet. A struggle seemed to be transpiring on the deck of the Wilmington and Tom urged her to somehow get away from her remaining guard and move.

Olivia stood frozen a moment. The shock on not being shot seemed to hit her as much as actually being shot. She stared dumbly at the two men on the deck until she was shaken from her shock by Mr. McCabe's shout from where he was currently struggling with Captain Fokes.

"Miss Corin! Move!" He yelled, attempting to dodge Fokes' furious punches.

It was the right moment; the man who was still holding her was obviously distracted. Olivia sprung into action, twisting into him and elbowing him in the gut. He coughed and doubled over and she swung with all her might to take him down. At that very moment another shot fired out, and poor Mr. McCabe fell to the deck.

For another moment she froze, jumping with the sound of gunfire. Captain Fokes looked at her and ordered her retrieval obviously for two members of his crew advanced on her. Olivia looked around desperately for a way out but saw none, unless......

She looked up at the ropes and back at the men on deck. There was no way she would get to the other side of the ship on the deck, not to mention get to the Surprise. She had no choice. Without any more hesitation she swung up onto the ropes.

She'd seen the men on the Surprise go up and down this thing many times, and they made it seem so easy. However, Olivia immediately noticed how different this was from rock climbing. For one thing, the rocks didn't seem to sway nearly as much. Swallowing hard she forced herself to focus, telling herself it was just another cliff and the ropes her foot and hand holds. She grew more confident with every move and was quickly climbing swiftly.

Obviously more swiftly than the crew of the Wilmington had expected for when she first made her move they all laughed, believing a woman, particularly a frightened and beaten woman, could never successfully manage. Now, Captain Fokes was angrily ordering them up after her.

While Olivia knew nothing about these ropes, she knew climbing and quickly put the fact that these were ropes out of her mind and ran up the rest of the way like she'd been born to this. However, she lingered too long in one place and they were soon catching up to her. Biting her lip Olivia grabbed the first rope within reach and swung out onto it. She had no idea where she would go from here, but she knew she best keep moving. Securing her feet she climbed up, which seemed the natural direction to go, then gained momentum and swung to the next rope. "Just monkey bars Livie." She told herself. "Really, really, high up monkey bars." She said, swinging to another rope.

Apparently, what she was doing was not terribly easy, but being so frightened she didn't notice. One of the Wilmington's crew attempted to follow and with a shout slipped and fell. Olivia stopped once she reached another safer spot and saw him hit the deck with a loud thump. "Wow. That is what I don't want to happen." Adrenaline had made her suddenly somewhat giddy, and feeling no sympathy whatsoever to her captors now that Mr. McCabe was dead she laughed.

The men of the Surprise let out a loud cheer as Olivia out maneuvered the enemy. Tom could barely watch however, worried that with a single miscalculation on her part would send her to a death on the deck of the Wilmington.

Olivia refused to think about possible mistakes, focusing on one thing at a time. Someone was now coming at her from the other direction, and this guy was a regular monkey from the way he was swinging about with ease. "Damn." She cursed under her breath. She licked her lips, looking around. Suddenly, she had an idea. Crazy. But she couldn't keep the Wilmington's men away forever.

Olivia leapt, reaching out for a rope that was too far in front. When she didn't reach it she panicked, crying out and catching the first rope she could, relatively close to the mast. The men on deck all laughed at her foolish plan and mocked her, climbing the ropes on the Captain's order for her to come down in defeat.

However, that was not what Olivia had in mind at all. Instead, with a suddenly burst of energy she climbed up the rope and used momentum to swing herself onto one of those wooden platforms. With a gulp and a prayer she built up good footing and more momentum and swung with all she had. It was a good swing, thank God she'd spent enough summers at her Aunt's lake house to know how to launch herself off a rope. However, instead of falling into a lake and attempted to splash her brother, she grabbed onto another rope. However, this rope was not on the Wilmington. She was back on the HMS Surprise.

The Surprises let out a large cheer as Olivia clung to her new rope for a moment, closing her eyes before working her way down. Thankful to be back and not having the energy to use caution she slid down the ropes, hitting the deck hard, just as Tom was racing over to her.

Olivia looked at her now burnt hands in surprise. "Damn that hurts." She said with a shaky laugh. The ship seemed to shake as the Captain had given the order for the guns to run out and fire. They were boarding the Wilmington, now that Olivia was safe. The crew on deck had been energized by her display and also enraged by the abuse she had suffered.

Tom was ignoring everything but getting to Olivia at the moment. As soon as she had swung over the Captain had given him the simple order to see to her and then get back to the deck to lead his division. He reached her just as she proclaimed her hands hurt and embraced her fiercely. "My God Olivia!" He said, kissing her.

Olivia, despite the pain in her bruises and hands, returned his embrace and kiss. She suddenly felt all the exhaustion catch up with her and moaned slightly in pain.

Tom immediately pulled away from her, realizing her beaten state. "I've hurt you." He said, staring in shock at how awful she truly looked.

Olivia shook her head, feeling the entire ship spinning beneath her. "You could never..." But she didn't finish her sentence, as the world drifted away into now safe and blissful darkness, and she collapsed into his arms.

* * *

A/N: Yay Olivia's back! And no, I'm not done yet. I think perhaps two more chapters... maybe three depending on how I break this monster up. Hope my switches points of view back and forth didn't confuse anyone. So.... Now that she's back do you suppose a happy ever after is in order? Is life really that simple? Will Fokes continue to cause trouble for our lovely couple? You'll just have to wait and see won't you? Mwahahaha!

TheMusingFit: Haha that's what I was talking about with the emergency poles. My friends and I always wondered how well they worked... because for one thing one time someone I knew had to use one because they were having a bad asthma attack and couldn't breath... and 20 minutes later campus police showed up.. also, once you hit the little button you wouldn't exactly stay there now would you? You'd run off and then how would they find you? So we began to joke about how they were like "base" in tag... or you would run around it in circles, but then you'd get dizzy and fall over and be attacked anyway. Haha yeah Olivia's going to need good old Tom lovin after this... but then again I think we all could use a little Tom lovin' hehe.... Did I type that? Oops. As always m'dear thanks for the review and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Aurien: Oh don't kill me! That's not nice at all! I'm glad you decided to review. Reviews make my day hehe. I'm glad that your enjoying reading this and I hope you enjoyed the update. Thanks!

Lily Knotwise: Well, Fokes isn't dead yet... so you can still shoot him if you want. I'm posting this chapter sooner than I had planned so I don't torture you guys too long... hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for the review!

Fawks: Hehe yay for throwing stones at Fokes! He deserved it you know. Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter and thank you for the kind words.

Gaeriel Palpatine: Haha I'm glad you thought 11 was cute. It was one of those cute moments that I just couldn't resist writing. And I'm sorry 12 was a cliff hanger... of course, haha so is 13.... And possibly this one too. I'm evil aren't I? Thanks for the lovely reviews and hope you enjoy 13 and 14!

Calliope-Elven-Agent: Oh I hope my scary villain didn't scare you too much! Hehe! And in answer to your question puts on history major cap Yes the British and Americans really really did not like each other back in the day. For many years after the Revolutionary War the boarder between Canada and the United States was armed and there were some skirmishes and such. Then there was that whole War of 1812 and the US was really quite bitter that the Royal Navy had a habit of boarding their merchant ships and impressing their sailors. Gee I wonder why? Then there was that whole War of 1812 deal.... Anyway, while I'm not 100 sure that an American Privateer and the Surprise would be at each other I'm relatively certain this wouldn't be TOO MUCH of a leap. If I'm wrong (then I make the history department at my school look really bad... but hey! I haven't done my US requirements yet! Except for the basics that I took in high school) then oh well... it's fiction... and odd fiction at that. Thanks for the review and hope you enjoyed the update!

Sakai213: I use correct grammar? Haha no way! I've always been horrible at grammar, but I do try to write legibly. My pen name? I've actually never seen Mr. Bean...sorry. It comes from my nickname in middle school being Bean, a character from the book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Quite an interesting book though I haven't read it since 7th grade. But that nickname just sort of carried over into all my emails and pen names. Whatever works eh? Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for the lovely review!

MusicBoxDancer: Um... yeah kind of killed McCabe.... Sorry. But at least Tom didn't kill him and he had a shining moment of being a good guy! As for my whoops moments. Yeah, mistakes happen. I meant to say that the Wilmington was a privateer earlier but forgot... oops. So I added that in at the beginning of this chapter. As for the laudanum... um... oops? Hehe. Well, maybe she was somewhat conscious? I remember when I passed out at band camp they told me they gave me water and I can't remember drinking it at all. And I know they didn't have syringes... so maybe she was semi-conscious? Fokes is just a nutcase with a ship quite frankly. Don't know how he got that ship or why he's evil. Maybe he knew someone pressed by the Royal Navy? Or maybe someone he knew got killed by them? His son perhaps? Haha I don't know I'm just making crap up here and I'm not going to build on that. The point is, he has a few screws loose up there. Thanks for the helpful review! Haha I do mess up and it's good for people to call me on these things. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Cheers!

British-luver: Olivia is pretty tough isn't she? I don't think I would be that tough... I'd have been all "Yes they're coming after you! Don't hurt me!" or most likely, "They're coming after you, and they are going to kick your ass! Na na nana na!" Because when nervous I become annoying as all. Haha no not all Americans are evil, just the insane ones. Wait. I am insane. Um.... the insanely evil ones? Wait, I'm plotting to take over the world... um... well.... meh.. Anyway, I felt bad that I killed McCabe because he was a nice guy. But it just happened! One of those moments when your typing and you go "Oh... why'd I have to do that? That's sad! I don't want to do that!" But you do it anyway because rewriting the scene would be too much of an effort. Well, dashing Pullings got his girl back! Yay him! Now we'll see how things go from there... as always your reviews are far too nice :-) Thanks for the wonderful praise and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

ArcherofDarkness: Haha impale Fokes with a spoon. That's just funny. I hope you enjoyed torturing him, but leave some for Tom! They do use arse in the book a lot... and thankee... hehe. I like thankee. We shall see if Pullings whoops Fokes won't we? Mwahahaha. Hope your lion enjoyed his lunch and thanks for reviewing!

Philrya: Haha I enjoy creating evil characters. Just like I enjoyed playing evil characters back in the day when I did high school plays. It's so much fun being evil. Haha and I always used to surprise people who knew me because I'm the type of person who never loses her temper (oh but when I do it's a scary sight...) and is usually quite happy (or fakes happy). Then I get onstage at auditions and let loose and it scares people! In the words of one of the guys, "Dude! She's scary! I just wet myself a little.." I hope he didn't really wet himself because that would have been gross. Anyway, hehe, what was my point with that story? Oh yeah... I like bad guys. They are fun. Especial ones that are over the top evil. You'll have to wait and see if Pullings kicks his ass hehe. He's not dead yet! Mwahahahaha! Thanks for the review and hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned!

Sleepwalking Dreamer: Haha a slow painful death at Pullings' hands? We shall see.... (looks evil) we shall see... Haha Fokes would be a fun case study. I took psychology too as either one of my general education courses or one of my license requirements for my secondary education endorsement that's attached onto my degree (it's lovely the weird classes that makes me take... ) and really enjoyed it. In fact I still flip through the text book sometimes when I'm writing for ideas to make messed up characters... though I'm not sure if I did this with Fokes or not. Can't remember. Ooh shoals would have been a good idea... I should have done that but I'm too lazy to rewrite the chapter. So we're just going to go with Jack is so much better than Fokes and his ship is faster and therefore they caught them. Haha I understand how fanfiction is a fun escape from university work. How do you think this story got written in the first place? It was me stalling on actually doing my real work. Like I'm doing right now... (looks at stack of books on desk on the English Reformation and sighs) though I really should be preparing that stupid presentation. Anyway, hope I didn't keep you waiting too long! And thanks for the email and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as a distraction from your homework! Until next time happy reading!

All you reviewers are wonderful! Gold stars all around! Seriously guys, you make my day. Just thought you should know that. Thanks for all the lovely kind words!

Tune in next time... bum bum bum!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

When Olivia finally woke she found herself alone in a small, unfamiliar cabin. She slowly sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the hammock she had been placed in. For a brief second the unfamiliar surroundings caused her to panic and worry that she was still on the Wilmington, but she started remembered what had happened before she blacked out, and put her mind at ease with a sigh of relief.

Glancing around she her eyes fell upon a chest with "T. Pullings" carved into the wood. She must be in Tom's cabin. She looked around with interest. She had never been in here, and was slightly curious of what the room would say about him. It was small and of course, rather plain, but clean and what was there appeared to be in order. She smiled to herself, that all was good for Olivia could not stand a slob.

With a content sigh she leaned back in the hammock, so relieved to be back here. Her hands had been bandaged quiet nicely and her bruises were beginning to feel better just from resting. She had just closed her eyes once more when she heard someone come in, and sat up to look.

Tom smiled warmly, glad to see she was awake, and removed his hat. "Good afternoon, Olivia." He greeted.

"Is it afternoon?" She asked, also smiling. "I seem to have lost track."

He laughed, "I would say, you slept through the entire battle. I put you here because sick-berth would no doubt be filled with wounded, and the Doctor said you were in no real danger." He told her, crossing and taking her hand gently. "Are you well?" He asked softly, studying her face with concern.

Olivia nodded, "I feel better than I look." She assured him.

Tom laughed again, "That is well, for you look terrible my dear." He said teasingly. "I would embrace you, but I fear further aggravating your injuries."

She gave a small laugh and with his help, got to her feet. "I am really feeling much better." She replied rather saucily. "And I think it well worth the risk."

He smiled in amusement and gave her a very gentle kiss, as if afraid she may break. He then pulled her close, holding her carefully, searching for words to express the relief he felt at having her back again. "I am so very glad you are safe, Olivia." He whispered, holding her close.

Olivia closed her eyes, feeling protected at last in his arms. "I was so scared Tom. I've never been so afraid in my life." She confided to him, wanting nothing more than to just be held by him for the rest of her life, safe and warm in his embrace.

"Neither have I." Tom admitted. "I was so afraid of losing you, and for a horrible moment, I thought I had, and it was killing me." He looked at her for a moment, as if searching her face for something, and then carefully ran a hand across her swollen cheek. "Did Fokes do this?" He asked softly.

Olivia nodded, "He had quite the temper." She said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "And a punch to match."

Tom continued to hold her carefully, closing his eyes a moment in anger. He did not want to ask the next question but he felt he must know, for some morbid and strange reason. Had he violated his love he would kill the man. It was simple. He would still of course marry Olivia, for he loved her and knew that it would have been at no fault of her own. "And.... and did he...." Tom trailed off, turning quite red and not knowing how to word the question.

Olivia thankfully caught his drift. "No Tom. He did not get that far." She said firmly. "Though.... I have a feeling that had the Surprise not caught up when she did.... he would have." She recalled the look he had been giving her, and the force of his kisses as she tried her hardest to get away, to stop him. The fear she had felt and the helplessness and she shuddered slightly, involuntarily.

Tom felt her shudder and swore under his breath, cursing the man. He tightened his embrace, protectively, but then remembered she was still quite sore and loosened hid grip. "Oh my dearest, Olivia." He whispered.

Olivia smiled slightly, having caught his swearing, "You're right. He is a bastard." She replied. "But... Tom, what happened in the battle? Did-?"

Tom quieted her fears. "It was quite a fight, Fokes was not willing to surrender easily, but we took the Wilmington prize, never fear. Captain Fokes is about to come over to present Captain Aubrey with his sword as a formal surrender, I wanted to see if you were awake yet before I went up."

Olivia nodded breathing a sigh of relief, "I'm glad of it." She said.

Tom smiled, giving her another light kiss. "Now, I should be taking my leave. Why don't you rest, Olivia? You must be exhausted."

Olivia paused, "Tom, I would like to see Fokes surrender." She said suddenly. She did not know why, but she felt that seeing him surrender would help put her mind at ease. She feared him, remembering how weak she had felt in his capture, and wanted to make sure he was truly defeated. "Please?"

Tom hesitated, then, seeing how much this seemed to mean to her, nodded. "If that is what you want." He said.

"It is." She replied quickly, taking a rather shaky breath. "It will convince me that it's really all over."

"Olivia," Tom looked into her eyes, locking her gaze. "I am never going to let anyone hurt you again. Do you understand? As long as there is breath in me I will protect you. I swear it." He said, taking her hand. "You are safe, Olivia."

Olivia closed her eyes a moment and nodded, allowing herself to be pulled into an embrace and leaning against him. "I love you." She said softly.

He smiled, stroking her hair as if comforting a frightened child. "Now then, my dear Miss Corin, I believe I am needed on deck. Shall we?" He said, trying to lighten the mood and offering her his arm.

Olivia smiled, wiping away tears she had not been aware of shedding and accepting his arm replied, "Soon to be Mrs. Olivia Pullings, sir. Or have you forgotten your proposal?"

He laughed, pleased at how wonderful the words 'Mrs. Olivia Pullings' sounded from her and made a small bow. "How could I forget?" He said, leading her, and together they went up on deck.

Once there, Tom quickly entrusted Olivia to one of the midshipmen, Peter Calamy, for he was needed with the Captain and doubted Olivia had the strength to stand for very long on her own.

Upon seeing Olivia arrive on deck with Tom the Captain made his way over to them, quite pleased to see her. "Well, Miss Corin, It is good to see you up."

She smiled, "Thank you, sir." She said. "It is good to be back."

Jack returned her smile, he felt responsible for her capture, seeing as it was his suspicions that had gotten Olivia left alone on that island in the first place. "Had I known, Miss Corin, that you were such a talented acrobat I would have put you to better use on the Surprise than assisting the good Doctor." He joked lightly.

Olivia laughed, "Well, sir, I may take you up on that. But next time preferably without the men behind me trying to kill me." She teased, feeling much better now that she saw for herself the sorry state of the Wilmington.

The Captain laughed, "Well met Miss Corin, well met." He said. "Well! Mr. Pullings, it appears Captain, and I use the term loosely, Fokes, is coming abroad. Let's get this done with."

Tom nodded, "Aye sir." He quickly turned to Olivia. "Will you be all right?"

She smiled, "Yes Tom, I'm fine. Mr. Calamy will take good care of me." She teased, taking the boy's arm.

Tom grinned. "Keep her out of trouble Mr. Calamy." He ordered.

Calamy nodded with a quick salute. "Aye sir." He said, with a shy smile at Miss Corin as Mr. Pullings followed the Captain to meet Fokes.

A surprisingly large amount of the crew had turned out to see the formal surrender. Word had spread around the ship of the shabby treatment of Miss Corin and her daring escape to the Surprise, and they all wanted to see the rather sinister Captain of the Wilmington surrender.

Fokes came abroad, and rather bitterly saluted the quarterdeck. He saw Olivia and his face darkened, and he glared sharply at her.

Olivia swallowed hard in fear, remembering painfully him bearing down on her, pounding her senseless, and she closed her eyes, feeling her head spin.

Calamy noticed this with concern. "Ma'am?" He asked. "Are you well?"

Olivia forced her eyes open and noticed the world had finally stopped spinning. "I'm fine, Mr. Calamy." She said. "Though I may need to lean on you a bit."

He nodded, "That's quite fine Miss Corin. You've had quite a rough couple of days." He said, supporting her arm but mindful of her bruises.

Olivia looked over to see what was happening. Fokes said something softly to the Captain that she could not quite hear, and bowed, presenting his sword to Captain Aubrey, who while remaining civil, was obviously disgusted by the man before him.

Suddenly, Olivia realized that she had seen Fokes before she came abroad the Wilmington. She gasped, her dream. He was the man in her dream who had killed Tom. Suddenly she was very alert, more than she had ever been in her life. She watched in terror as Fokes bowed again, with a glare to Tom, not the Captain, but Tom, and reached for something in his coat. But what? She heard the telltale click of a pistol cocking, and with a shout launched herself forward, despite Calamy's grip on her arm and protesting shout as Captain Fokes drew his weapon.

"Look out!" She cried, darting between Tom and Fokes.

It was as if it were happening in slow motion. The gun went off, deafening to Tom, but Olivia never heard it. All she felt was a sharp pain in her back and she fell forward, against Tom, who caught her in his arms, a look of pure shock on his face, before her sight slowly faded away.

"Olivia!" He heard himself shout, as he caught her. She looked surprise at her injury and went limp in his arms. "No!" He cried out, giving her a slight shake. "Olivia!" He was trembling with grief and rage as he lowered her to the deck. She wasn't moving, and all of Tom's breath seemed to leave his body as his heart froze in terror. He put his forehead against hers, tears streaming down his face, and he rocked madly back and forth, as if he could not contain himself.

Several men had surged forward to restrain Fokes right after he had fired his shot, but he did not move or try to get away. He merely laughed, a high pitched and taunting sound that filled the silent ship.

Tom heard this and was filled with uncontrollable rage. He rose to his feet, his face contorted with deep anger and hatred, a site that none had ever seen nor would ever forget. Without a word he drew his own pistol crossed to Fokes, placing it only an inch from his forehead and glaring into Fokes' eyes with pure hatred.

"Go to the devil." He said coldly, firing without blinking or looking away as he blew the man's head in.

Fokes hit the deck with a thud, and without ceremony, the Surprises threw him over the side. Such a man did not deserve a proper burial at sea and the Captain did not protest. He had gone to Olivia, searching hopefully for some sign of life.

Tom sank to his knees, unable to stand the grief anymore and threw the pistol aside. The crew all stared at him in shock; no one spoke for no one knew what to say. What comfort could they give him? Everything had just happened so quickly.

Suddenly, the Captain broke the silence. "Tom!" He cried out. "Tom! She's alive!" He shouted.

Tom jerked his head up and ran over to them, taking her hand. "Olivia?"

"Send for the Doctor!" The Captain shouted. "Now!"

Several of the men ran off, a mumble of voice had picked up, discussing what had just transpired.

Olivia slowly opened her eyes, she was shaking and very pale, but alive. She looked up at Tom, straining to see clearly. "T- Tom?" She asked.

"Shush. Don't try to talk." He told her, "Just lie still."

Olivia coughed, a small bit of blood stained her lips. "Hurts." She spat out.

"You'll be all right, you'll see." Tom told her, willing her to hang on. "The Doctor will set you right."

Jack Aubrey had seen many wounds in his life, and Olivia's did not look promising, but he could not bring himself to say so. He watched as Tom held her, shaking as well, softly comforting her and felt yet another pang of guilt. Feeling as if he should have known that Fokes would try something, and yet again, felt responsible.

Stephen appeared, gasping for breath. Apparently the group of men who ran to fetch him had rushed him so much that he had no idea what situation he would be facing. "What happened?" He asked quickly.

"She's been shot Stephen. In the back." Jack said softly.

He looked alarmed and reached out, gently touching her side, making a quick examination.

Tom looked at the Doctor, fear in his eyes. "Will she be all right?" He asked, more like begged for a positive answer, pleading for hope.

Stephen licked his lips, avoiding Tom's eyes. "I will need to further examine her, and that bullet will most certainly have to come out." He looked at Jack. "I'll need light and privacy. Might I use the cabin?" He asked.

Jack nodded, willing to do anything to help. "Of course."

"Help me move her!" The Doctor called.

The men, who were still standing about, straining to hear what was going on, quickly sprang forward to offer their assistance.

"Now, careful as you move her. Very carefully men." Stephen instructed.

They moved her as if moving fragile crystal, careful not to swing of jolt her in any way. Tom went along side, grasping her hand and assuring her the entire time. Stephen followed with Jack who briefly stopped his friend.

"Stephen, will she live?" He asked bluntly.

He sadly shook his head, "I'm afraid it does not look promising, but one never knows." The Doctor sighed, "I will do all I can."

"I know you will Stephen." Jack replied, frowning. "I know you will."

They went to the cabin and found that Padeen and Higgins had quickly prepared it for surgery. Tom was still by Olivia's side and the extra men left, wishing the doctor luck, but Tom remained, his eyes never leaving Olivia, who seemed barely conscious.

Jack went over and gave Tom's shoulder a firm shake. "Come Tom." He said softly. "Let us allow the Doctor to get to work."

Tom looked up, his eyes red with unshed tears. "Sir, if I may stay?"

Stephen paused, as if considering it and then gave his head a firm shake. "No Tom. It will be best if you wait outside." He said, knowing that things could get unpleasant having a frightened lover in the room would not help.

Reluctantly, Tom leaned down and gently kissed Olivia's forehead. "I will be right outside, my dearest." He promised before allowing Jack to take his arm and lead him firmly from the room.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I know, I'm evil. You needn't remind me.... And please don't beat me up! I warned you I abuse characters didn't I? So yet again I leave you wondering... will Olivia get out of this one alive? Will I drive Tom to insanity by constantly hurting his true love?

Tom: Yes! You will! Stop it!

Me: No! Now dance puppy!

Tom: (pout) I'm not a puppy.

Me: Awwww.... I made the puppy pout.

Tom: You're cruel.

Me: Yes I am!

Tom: Damn you!

Me: Thank you!

Tom: Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (storms off in anger)

Oops... I made him mad. Now he's eating all my food. Oh well.... Anyway, tune in next time for what will most likely be the final chapter of "As the Surprise Sails!"

Mascararain: Haha thanks for the lovely review. And yes you can say mon amie. I give you permission. (nods) I hope you still think this story is good after this chapter... as I torture poor Olivia and Tom more. How much can they take you think? Hehe. Anyway, thanks again for reviewing and hope you enjoyed the update!

Aurien: Haha w00t! Here's the next chapter... sorry to keep you waiting! Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reviewing :-)

Gaeriel Palpatine: Haha this story would make one odd movie wouldn't it? I'm sorry I made you cry! Please don't cry! Or... do? Haha was it good crying or bad crying? Poor Tom... I abuse him. And he IS a puppy when it comes to Olivia! Haha. Like Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean! He is a primary example of puppyhood. But Tom wasn't much of a puppy when he shot Fokes... but puppies are defensive too! Go Tom! Hehe! Even though you seemed to enjoy Captain Fokes.. haha... you're not supposed to be in love with the evil guy Gaeriel! Anyway.. thanks for the lovely reviews. You're all caught up now and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Fokes is dead but you can have Jack as a replacement! Merry Christmas! (gives you Jack in a bow)

Sillytigerlily: Haha (gives you lungs) Does that help? Although I'm kind of leaving you in suspense again aren't I? Um... sorry? Fokes was mean... I think he got what he deserved. Haha you are making my head grow, but life seems to balance it out and keep it normal sized. Powder monkey hut! That is the funniest mental picture ever! Hope you found this chapter brilliant and um... do remember to breath... it's important! Haha Thanks for reviewing!

Erzsbet Hacker: You're welcome you're welcome. And thank you for reviewing. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Lily Knotwise: Well, not lots of fluff... but some fluff.. I do have some short stories that are mad spoilers that have fluff... should you want to read them just email and say "SEND ME FLUFF!" and I shall see what I can do... Now I'm back to torturing them... so blah. Hope you liked it despite my cruelty!

Blair Whitman: Haha well since I only have one more chapter I don't think I'll worry about getting a beta but thanks for the offer. I'll be sure to check out your story soon. Thanks for reviewing and hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Krystie Jamison: I updated! Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed.

MusicBoxDancer: Haha well I had Stephen in there. Happy now? Fokes didn't get kicked... but he did get shot... that's always fun. Hope you enjoyed the update with Stephen! Thanks for reviewing!

Calliope-Elven-Agent: Haha don't hide! It's okay! (gives you ice cream) Tom did his duty. Go Tom! Fokes is dead! Die Fokes! And now Livie's been shot... oops. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

British-luver: Haha I hope you're okay! And I hope you stayed in your chair this time! Ouch. Tom crying is sad. I hate it when guys cry... (hugs Tom) Tom and Fokes dramatic sword fight would be very cool... but that's just not what happened. Maybe in a future story Tom will get to sword fight to defend something. Well there should only be one more chapter so you better hurry up and get feeling in your bum back! Hahaha. Thanks as always for the review and hope you enjoyed (in your chair) the new chapter!

ArcherofDarkness: Thank you! I'm glad you like! Haha using my story to avoid work are we? Haha so am I actually.... (bows) I am honoured to be on your list... yay! Yeah I think everyone feels bad for McCabe.... Poor guy. But people have to die in my story... it's how I operate. Oh well. Hehe. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and hope you finished your essay!

Serena: Poor Tom. I'm just mean to him in general. He did get to kill Fokes though! That should help his ego! And he comforted Olivia which is important... and now she's shot.. um oops? Anyway, hope you enjoyed the update! Thanks for the review and happy reading!

Sleepwalking Dreamer: Well... it WAS a happy resolution anyway... faked you out! McCabe was a nice guy and it seems a lot of people were sad that he died... but I used him to make my point of the day... the enemy is not always evil. I WAS going to do that with Fokes but it was more fun to make him evil haha. But poor old McCabe. He was a nice guy. As for the Acheron, she does not appear in this story. I'm not rewriting the movie just using characters. Maybe it's another mission or something? Don't really know, not being specific here, but I'm not going to mention the Acheron or that mission... not in the cards.. though it does pain a lovely mental image of Tom sailing off into the sunset on the Acheron with Olivia by his side... hehe. As for the sweet fluff.. well there was a little bit of it.... haha I do have some short blips that I wrote for the fun of it with these two that are pretty fluffy (and also chalked full of spoilers for future stories) so if you'd like to read them give me an email because I probably won't post them as they are plotless but cute. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for the email!

Wow. You reviewers rock. Hope I got everyone.. if I left anyone out I'm sorry! I love you! All of you! Hugs all around! Tom! Hug my reviewers!

Tom: (grumble grumble) Do I have to?

Me: Yes!

Tom: (hugs reviewers)

See? You review my stories you get a hug from Tom Pullings! That's bribery!


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Tom stood on the quarterdeck, waiting for what seemed to be a lifetime. The Captain had taken pity on him and did not put him to work. He doubted poor Tom would be much use at the moment. He had never seen a man look more anxious as Tom slowly paced from one end of the quarterdeck to the other. None of the crew or other officers would dare to approach him for they were at a loss as to what they should say to him.

Jack watched him for a moment after he gave his orders to Mr. Mowett, who had stepped in seamlessly to see to Tom's duties as well as his own without a complaint. Mr. Mowett saw Tom as well and with concern turned to the Captain. "Do you think Mr. Pullings will be all right, sir?" He asked with caution and worry for his friend. William had never once seen Tom like this, so frightened and desolate looking, his dear friend seemed to be tormenting himself with each step, forcing himself to continue as if afraid of what would happen if he stopped his listless pace.

Jack frowned, watching Pullings in his desperate pace. "We all hope so." He replied, not taking his eyes off the man. "See to your duties, Mr. Mowett."

"Aye sir." And Mowett went off, with another worried look to Tom.

Jack approached his first officer with caution. Tom was clearly doing his best to keep a strong face, but his eyes failed miserably. He was worried out of his mind, and Jack could only imagine the questions he was asking himself at the moment. "Why don't you go below Tom? Rest a bit. You're no good to any of us falling over."

Tom shook his head, still pacing. "With respect sir, I'd rather not."

"You'll go mad thinking of what you could have done, Mr. Pullings." He said quietly, smiling slightly when Tom gave him a surprised look. "Oh yes, I know. The Doctor is doing everything he can for her. If anyone can save her it is our good Doctor."

Tom looked up at the Captain, his gaze haunted with worry and pain. "If anyone can save her, sir." He said softly.

"That is not for us to decide, Mr. Pullings." He replied. "All we can do is hope."

Tom closed his eyes, tears blurring his vision and he looked away, furious to be showing such weakness here on the quarterdeck. "I'm sorry, sir." He said quickly.

"Not at all, Mr. Pullings." The Captain reassured him. "I expect Stephen will have news shortly." He said. "In the mean time, try not to lose your head."

Tom nodded, "Aye sir." He said, and he continued his slow pace.

Jack left him to it. Understanding he needed to be left alone for the time. He went about seeing to repairs of the ship until he saw Stephen emerge from the cabin and quickly made his way over to him before Tom saw him.

"Stephen, what news?" He asked anxiously, frowning at the sad expression on the Doctor's face.

Stephen shook his head, "I've done all I can Jack. She's alive, for now. But the wound is deep and infection is already setting in. There was a great deal of damage inside that I cannot repair." He sighed, shaking his head once more. "I do not believe she will last the night."

Jack closed his eyes a moment, "Poor Tom." He said softly.

"He should know Jack." Stephen said, removing his glasses and wiping sweat from his brow. "He should be given the chance to be there."

Jack nodded, "Yes. We can manage without him for the evening." He agreed.

"Would you like me to talk to him?" Stephen asked, knowing this was rather shaky territory that neither one of them were used to dealing with. If a man died word got about quickly, and while the crew had many great friends among them, none of them were planning to be married to one another.

"No. I will." Jack decided with reluctance. "You've truly done everything, brother?" He asked.

Stephen nodded, "Regretfully there is nothing more to do besides make her as comfortable as possible." He said with a defeated sigh. "She is asking for him."

"Poor man. He was so happy with her Stephen. It fairly breaks my heart." Jack glanced at Pullings once more, remembering his beaming face after Miss Corin had agreed to be his wife.

"Tragic." Stephen agreed, with another weary sigh. "I should see to my other patients." He gave his friend a quick clap on the shoulder. "Good luck." And then turned to leave.

Jack, with a heavy heart made his way back to the quarterdeck to find Tom where he left him moments ago. "Tom." He said, as he approached him. "I spoke with the Doctor."

Tom looked up anxiously. "How is she?" He asked. "Is she all right?"

"She's alive, Tom, for now." Jack said.

He closed his eyes, "Thank God for that. Wait... for now... sir?" He asked, his eyes suddenly opening again, filled with dread.

Jack had never found words so difficult to say as what he was about to tell the young man. "Doctor Maturin does not believe she will live through the night."

Tom stumbled back, as if struck. His face completely paled and he stared at the Captain in disbelief. "Sir?" He choked out, his throat suddenly completely dry.

"The Doctor has done all he can, Tom, but the wound is too deep." He sighed, finding it impossible to look at the man for the pain in poor Tom's eyes was too great. "She's asking for you Tom." Jack looked back at the man, his voice firm. "Go to her."

Tom stood still a moment, pale with shock and his mouth slightly open. With a hard swallow he nodded, and hurried off to the cabin without another thought towards anything else.

He entered to find it painfully quiet. He hesitated a moment, staring at Olivia, taking her in. She was so very pale, and so very fragile looking. Tom paused a moment, composing himself. He could not show her he was upset, he had to be strong for her. With a deep breath he crossed to where she lay in her cot. Higgins looked up and stumbled over his quiet apologies, excusing himself.

Tom sat down in a chair next to her, gently taking her hand. She was so very pale, deathly pale even. He lifted his shaking hand to her face, gently tracing the outline of her bruised cheek. He swallowed hard, near tears and took a deep breath to force them back.

Olivia's eyes fluttered open slightly, "Tom?" She asked weakly.

He quickly wiped the tears he had shed away and moved his chair closer to her. "I'm here." He promised. "Rest easy, Olivia."

She frowned, "Tom...."

"Shush now, my darling." He said softly, brushing his lips across her forehead. "Save your strength."

"Save it for what?" She replied weakly. "I know I'm dying. I see it in your eyes."

He bit his lip, looking away. "I failed you." He stated, feeling so helpless and defeated. Just hours before he had promised to protect her, that she would be safe as long as there was breath in him, and now she lay dying before him, and he was powerless to stop it.

"No. You didn't." Olivia reached out with what strength she had left and caught his hand. "Tom, I love you, and I don't want you to blame yourself."

"But it should be me, Olivia." He sighed. "I should have been the one he shot, not you." He leaned forward, cradling her in his arms. "Why did you do it Olivia?"

She gave him a weak smile, "I don't think I could live without you Tom. The only thing that kept me going here, in this time, was you. I didn't think. I acted."

"And you think I can live without you?" Tom asked, furiously. "You think I can live each day knowing what I have lost? Knowing that I will never be with you again? I love you!" He heard his voice break with sorrow and he fought to hold back tears. "I don't want to lose you. Not now, not ever." He closed his eyes, losing the battle with his own grief and wiping his eyes furiously. "I love you so much." He whispered.

Olivia struggled for breath, tears running freely down her face. Tom quickly found her some water, helping her to drink, her pain tearing him apart piece by piece. When she finally spoke her voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard every word. "I'm yours forever, Tom." She said. "Even after...." She swallowed hard, "Even after I die, we still had our time together."

He shook his head, squeezing her hand, "It wasn't near enough time."

Olivia managed a small smile, "It was time, and I am grateful for it."

Tom gave her a weak smile, wiping his tears away again and carefully kissing her, "As am I." He replied softly.

They sat silently a moment, Tom holding her, carefully, comforting her as best he could. Olivia was clearly becoming weaker and weaker and slipping away despite Tom's desperate prayers that she would somehow miraculously recover.

Suddenly, she broke the silence with a soft whisper. "I'm so afraid Tom."

Tom pulled her closer, his heartbreaking as she grew paler and paler. "Sh..." He said softly, stroking her hair gently. "I'm here." He assured her.

Olivia closed her eyes and relaxed, her breathing grew more and more ragged. The Doctor came to check in on her and Tom knew by his face that it would not be much longer. He held her close, murmuring comforting words in her ear through his own tears, and the Doctor, knowing Tom would want to be alone placed a firm hand on his shoulder and said he would return within the hour.

When Stephen did returned he found Tom holding Olivia's hand in both of his, cradling it to his forehead, his face streaked with tears. Stephen noted the pale state of the woman and silently went to check for signs of life, not wanting to disturb Mr. Pullings.

Tom however, answered his question before he moved closer. "She's gone sir." He choked out, silently weeping. "She's gone."

On closer inspection he could tell just be looking at her. He cautiously moved to Tom's side, kneeling beside him, pure sympathy in his eyes. "Tom," Stephen said, putting a hand on his shaking shoulder. "Tom, I am so very sorry."

Tom looked up, his eyes red from his tears, "I loved her." He croaked, his voice breaking with emotion. "I loved her, but now she's gone."

Stephen watched him with concern, unsure of what he could say to consol the man. "She was a good woman Tom." He said gently. "She will be missed."

Tom did not reply, he carefully kissed her forehead and buried his face in her neck, hot tears running down his checks and falling onto her now cold skin. He barely heard the kind words as the Doctor left the cabin. He barely heard the Captain come in and offer his comfort and suggest he return to his own cabin to rest. The next thing he knew he was standing wordlessly in the gunroom.

William Mowett and Captain Howard stood as he stared blankly at them. No one had any idea what to say. Mowett approached him cautiously. They had been shipmates for many years, since they were boys even, but he never remembered seeing Tom look so devastated, so lost, as if he were a different man entirely.

"Tom... Tom, we heard. Is there anything-?" He stopped, knowing full well there was probably nothing he could do. "I'm so sorry Tom." He said, offering what sympathy he could to the man.

Tom swallowed hard, finding his voice strange and strained. "Thank you William." He said softly. "Ex- excuse me." He quickly went to his own cabin, shutting the door. He felt numb, as if he were merely a shell of his former self. He was awake he was sure, but he felt in a fog, in some horrible dream.

He did not remember falling asleep, but soon Mowett gently knocked on his door and told him that they were rigging for church soon. Olivia's funeral, Tom thought, so it was real. She really was gone. It seemed so final. He was not sure what to do next. He had counted on her being there for the rest of his life, when he was away at sea he had planned on knowing he would soon be rushing home to her arms, he did not know if he wished to go on without her. Tom felt as if he would like nothing more than to lay in his cabin until death brought him to her, but he somehow managed to appear in his dress uniform on deck.

Jack was immediately surprised at how blank Tom looked. His face was pale, yet showed no emotion, none whatsoever. He seemed more like a ghost than a man, going through the motions but not acknowledging anything at all. He stood still in his place during the service, not a word uttered. He did give a slight cringe as the dead splashed into the sea. It was the look of defeat in his eyes that struck him the most, the dead look that he had never once seen in the man whom he had known from a young midshipman. It was as if something inside of Tom Pullings had died with the woman, and was now sinking to the bottom of the sea in a hammock with shot weighing it down.

The Captain invited Tom to his cabin, and he stood there wordlessly. Neither knew what to say until Killick brought in the bottle. "May I offer you a drink, Tom?" Jack's throat felt dry, he saw pure misery on Tom's face and it worried him.

"If you please sir." His voice sounded hollow, and it seemed to echo in the cabin as Jack poured the man a drink, filling the glass.

Tom stared at it a moment, then downed the glass, pouring himself another. Perhaps the drink would dull the pain and emptiness, it did at least numb his mind. Maybe if he drank enough he would not think about her, perhaps he could drink the memory of Olivia out of his mind. Her touch, her laugh, her smile, her beautiful, perfect, voice on the wind, he wanted to forget it all, make it all go away so he would never feel this pain again.

The Captain was speaking to him now, but he did not hear a word. He merely drank, his mind swirling with thoughts. No, he realized no amount of drink would take her away. Her green eyes had been burned into his memory forever, the way they sparkled when she was amused, even if she was not laughing on the outside he could always tell she was amused by those eyes of hers.

The only way to have her back was to join her. He was sorely tempted to die was well; give up his life if there was the slightest possibility that they could be together again. He squeezed the glass in his hand, staring at its contents, his mind swirling with thoughts and self-loathing.

"Tom?" The Captain's voice pulled him from his contemplation. Aubrey was watching him with true concern and pity.

"She died because of me, sir. Because of me, and it pains me sir. It should have been me, not her." He said numbly, his eyes never leaving his drink.

The Captain studied the man in silence for a moment. "Tom, she died for you because she loved you. No sacrifice could be greater or more noble, and we are all in her debt." He watched Tom studying his glass in misery. "Do not waste her sacrifice Mr. Pullings. You owe it to her to carry on with your life, living it to its fullest." Jack took a deep breath, carrying on with his speech. "There will be other women-"

Tom's head shot up at this, and for a moment his face turned quite red with anger. "Other women, sir?" He exclaimed. "Other women?" He downed his drink, wiping his mouth without the slightest thought towards manners. "No sir. There will be no other women. I loved her more than I thought I could love anyone, and I shall never love another. Olivia, my Olivia, she was the only woman I will ever love. The only woman in the world, no matter how far I search there will never be another." His words came quickly and passionately, and the conviction behind them was powerful and strong.

Tom sighed, setting down the empty glass. "But, you are right about one thing, sir. She would want me to live so that she did not die in vain." He gazed out the window for a moment at the waves. Somewhere out there Olivia's body rested at the dark bottom of the sea. He wondered about the afterlife and if she was happy there. He prayed she was for it seemed too cruel to think there was nothing. He raised his now refilled glass in toast, "For you." He whispered, watching the waves roll passed.

* * *

Darkness had fallen on Olivia. It was strange to watch Tom's miserably concerned face fade from her vision and all give way to darkness. It was confusing, disorienting, and suddenly she was no longer in her body, she was floating, all her cares seemed to disappear and she felt completely free from all mortal bonds. 'Death," she thought to herself, 'is very peaceful.'

But suddenly, it was all interrupted. Light started to invade her vision once more. Blinding, bright, florescent lights. She'd forgotten those blaring tones these past few months at sea. The ceiling was the dull tan with its blaring lights beating down on her. The telltale beeping of hospital monitors She groaned, bringing a hand to her head and seeing an IV attached to her arm.

"Livie? Liv? You're awake!" Arms were immediately thrown around her neck and she found herself staring at her three closest friends. Kate released her and Lannie announced she was going for the nurse, quickly disappearing from the room. "We were so worried!"

"What happened?" Olivia sat up quickly, looking around in a panic. "Where's Tom? Where am I? Where's the ship?"

"Livie, who's Tom? What are you talking about?" Casey asked softly. "Calm down, you're in the hospital. You've been in a coma for three days."

Olivia stared at her blankly. "No, no I've been on the Surprise for months, in the past. Where's Tom? What happened?"

"You fell Livie, you haven't been anywhere but here. Who's Tom?" Kate asked, confused.

"Tom! Tom Pullings! First Lieutenant of the HMS Surprise and the man I am going to marry! Where is he?" She demanded, panic filling her mind as her eyes searched everywhere for him.

"Olivia, we promise, there is no Tom, you haven't been anywhere. You must have dreamed it." Casey assured her, trying to calm her down and exchanging a worried glance with Kate.

"Dreamed it?" Olivia looked around, completely confused. "How could I have dreamed it?" It was possible, she'd heard of coma dreams before. Perhaps they were right, but it had all seemed so real, felt so real. What she felt for Tom was stronger than any feeling she had ever had before, and now they were telling her he was not real. How could she possibly have dreamt him up?

She put a hand to her head again as it throbbed with a headache when something caught her eye on her hand. His ring. It was still on her finger where Tom had put it. It was no ring she would have bought herself, and she remembered Tom giving it to her clear as day. She remembered the look in his eyes when she told him she would marry him, the pure innocent joy she thought was only present in innocent children.

It had to be real. This ring was proof. No one would believe her, no one would understand, but she knew it was real, Tom was real, and wherever he was she hoped, she prayed that he knew how much she loved him.

Olivia knew she would never be the same. She felt numb on the inside, as if her spirit had frozen and wilted like a flower in a winter storm. She remembered wondering if she would ever get home, and now that she was home, she wanted nothing more than to go back and feel Tom's warm arms holding her once more. Hot tears came to her eyes, as she thought of what she had lost, what she and Tom would never share.

She felt arms around her shoulders again and looked up. Kate was staring at her with concern, trying to comfort her. "Livie, what's wrong?"

"I loved him, Kate." She let out a sob, feeling as though the world were crashing down around her. "God, I loved him so much."

Kate exchanged a look with Casey, who shrugged. Neither girl had a clue what was going on but they had never seen Olivia act like this. They had seen her break up with numerous boyfriends before, but she never once seen her react so strongly. "It's okay, Livie..." Kate soothed. "You'll feel better soon."

Olivia shook her head, leaning against her friend for support. "I'll never love another." She declared with a determination that was pure Olivia. "I just want him back. I want to go back."

Casey opened her mouth to protest that this 'Tom' fellow was the product of a coma dream, but a sharp look from Kate stopped her. "Everything will be fine, Liv." Casey murmured instead, feeling rather awkward.

Olivia shook her head in denial of their reassurances. She would go on living of course, she had no choice in the matter, but she firmly felt that she be never really be happy without Tom by her side.

Perhaps one day they would be reunited and fate would allow them to be together once more. She hoped to God with all her might it would be so. Olivia knew she would wait for him, no other man would claim her heart and she would love none other than Tom. She would wait forever for just one word, one kiss, one touch, if she had to. Time made no difference to her, for time itself could not break true love.

The End

.... Or is it?

* * *

A/N: Yes I know, I'm evil (ducks to dodge the rocks being thrown at her by an angry mob) I'm sorry! I just could not bring myself to give them that happy ending just yet... Why is there a body in the past you ask? I have no idea. I don't really care! Haha. Quite frankly I never explained why she traveled in time nor did I explore the cause. I'm not a scientist gosh darn it! I just write whatever pops into my confused and morbid head! Anyway, Tom is now sad... Olivia is now sad... basically it's all very Shakespearish. No one ends up happy.

Tom: (still sobbing) I hate you! (eating ice cream)

Me: Don't eat all of my ice cream!

Tom: Why not? I can get fat if I want to now! You took away my Olivia!

Me: Oh.... Right... well at least give me the two pounds I spent on the ice cream!

Tom: NEVER!! (runs off with my ice cream)

Trust me. You guys aren't the only people unhappy about the ending... (chases Tom who stole my ice cream) Anyway, if you have any questions email or review or whatever and I'll be more than happy to attempt to explain... or just um.... say "Gee I'm sorry that was a large and ugly plot hole." Haha! Hope you enjoyed To Wives and Sweethearts... otherwise known as As the Surprise Sails! Now I have to go catch a rather emotional sailor who has stolen my ice cream! Cheers!

Ithildi Blaque: I would be happy to read a portion of one of your stories. Just email it on over to me and I'll do my best to read it as soon as possible. I'm sorry this story is over too because I really had a blast writing it. I might write a sequel. Okay, actually, I am working on a sequel but I'm not sure I like it enough to post it quite yet. It's still a baby... hehe. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the end and hope to hear from you soon. Thanks for all the lovely reviews!

Sillytigerlily: Don't stick your powder monkey army on me! AHHH! (runs from the powder monkeys) I didn't actually kill her you know! She's still alive! I hope you found your lungs and I hope you don't hate me because of the way I ended this story. hangs head in shame Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I've truly enjoyed hearing from you! Cheers!

British-luver: Haha well, she both died and survived. Only I would do something so unexplained and weird like that... I agree... my Tom comforting Olivia was rather sappy haha... don't we all just wish we had our own Tom Pullings? Seriously! Why can't I have a Tom Pullings? Haha like when my former roomie and I were watching the Princess Bride and I pointed at Wesley and went "I want one of those!" Now I want a Tom Pullings too. I have to admit I had fun writing the sweet scenes between them too (gosh I can't believe I admitted my love of sap... must be the chocolate) and I really had fun writing Tom shooting Fokes.. haha that was just plain satisfying. I remember after I finished the scene I read it to my roommate at the time and she goes "Hell yeah!" Of course, she didn't know the rest of the story and I don't think she's ever seen the movie (sacrilege! But she was out of town when it came to the theatre there so...) but it was still pretty funny. Anyway... hope you aren't to angry about the ending. Hehe but he's semi-free now eh? Go get him! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, they made my day numerous times! Feel free to IM me anytime! Cheers!

Miss Flossy: Haha well... he was getting hitched. You have no idea how much I want to write his wedding scene. Tom's so cute when he's nervous and tripping over himself... hehe. Haha oooh Olivia in the arms of a handsome island boy... that would have been really fun to write! If I write out the sequel the way I'm thinking of it now there might be some of those lovely jealous Tom moments where we get to see a few punches thrown... that's all I'm saying for now because I'm nowhere near there yet but it's an idea I'm playing with in my mind. Well I gave you some Mowett... just a little bit. I actually added some more Mowett because I thought it'd be appropriate and it filled a hole that had been glaring me in the face since I first wrote all this out in April or some ridiculously long time ago, so I thought of you and added Mowett because your story is great and I owe you for the amusement! Thanks for reviewing and I hope you didn't hate the end. Although, you're one to talk... cough Lucy cough We both seem to enjoy killing characters. Though I didn't technically kill Olivia.... I just um... semi-killed her? Yeah... so I have some plot holes. Oh well. Haha anyway! Like I was saying thanks for the review and update your story soon!

Gina: And you thought I was evil before? Tom and Olivia never even got to have some adult fun time! I am so mean. I freely admit it. If I continue on the sequel I will be sure to allow them a little bit of fun.... Just a little mind you... mwahahaha. Anyway, thanks for the review and I hope you don't hate me too much now! Cheers!

Anyana: Haha my notes make you laugh? I always thought they were just proof of my insanity and no one really read them... wow thanks! Will Olivia's former life come back into play? Dude! You called it! Good job! I'm sorry the ending is not more positive. Okay, it's downright depressing but it leads way to a happier sequel... if I write it... I'm working on it... but as of right now there is no plot whatsoever, just a bunch of funny stuff and insanity. But I never let lack of plot stop me in the past... so there. Anyway! Thanks for reviewing and hope you don't hate the ending too much! Cheers!

Calliope-Elven-Agent: Hehe yay munchkins! No Livie in a Regency wedding-dress just yet... sorry. I feel really bad because I am itching to write their wedding you know? I keep thinking "Aww... he'll be in a uniform and she'll be all pretty and Jack will make a speech and they'll dance and it'll be so cute and la la la...." But unfortunately, that doesn't happen in this sorted tale... I have ideas for the sequel and I've started writing it... unfortunately there's no major plot in the sequel and it kind of um... sucks. So I may just banish it and not let anyone read it... we'll have to see. Hope you enjoyed (or at least didn't hate) my depressing ending too much. And thanks for the lovely reviews!

Aurien: Well, here's the next chapter, and I'm not any nicer in it. I even made poor Tom cry... how cruel of me! hugs sobbing Tom But I do hope you enjoyed the story and hope you don't hate my morbid ending! Thanks for the review m'dear! Happy reading!

MusicBoxDancer: More Stephen for you! Sadly our good Doctor didn't manage to perform a miracle and save poor Olivia... but at least she didn't really die... I was glad Tom shot Fokes too... of course... I wrote it... but hey! It was fun to write! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and hope you enjoyed the whole story! Thanks so much for all the lovely reviews, I really enjoyed them! Cheers!

Erzsbet Hacker: ACK! Don't cry! Please?? I'm sorry I had to write a sad ending but that's the way it worked out in my weird and twisted brain! Oh my... if you cry your eyes out I'm going to HAVE to put up the sequel... which means I have to do more work on the sequel... because I really really don't want you to cry!! Will it make you feel better if I say that one day Tom and Olivia will get hitched and sail off into the sunset with the many fat babies if I ever finish writing the entire series I have planed (which would surprise me because I've never finished writing an entire series in my life...) I'll say it if it will!! Please please please don't cry! Hope you aren't crying and hope you're not too disappointed in the ending. Thanks for the reviews :-)

Serena: Man I know... Tom's got it bad! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and ending of this tale m'dear! And thanks for the wonderful support throughout the story! Hope it lived up to your expectations! Until next time happy reading!

TheMusingFit: Please don't hate me. I don't like it when people hate me. Here! (hands over Tom Pullings) Do what you want with him!

Tom: Hey!

Olivia: (runs in and steals Tom back )He's mine!

(Tom and Olivia run off to make all those babies everyone seems to want them to have)

Um.... Okay.... (tries to ignore the sketchy sounds coming from the next room as Olivia has her Pullings) Anyway! Hope you enjoyed the ending and thank you so much for all the kind words. You have no idea how much that motivates me to get off my butt and edit and post this monster. Until next time m'dear, happy reading!

Archerof Darkness: I'm sorry! Now I've made Tom even more sad! But hey... she didn't REALLY die! There's still hope! Even though um... this story is over.... Hey... I said there may be a sequel didn't I? Haha nice protest signs, they are quite lovely. Anyway, I do hope despite the sadness you enjoyed this. I have loved reading your reviews and I hope this lived up to your expectations. Until next time m'dear, happy reading!

RandirienIthilienMaiden: I hope your crying was a good thing? Hehe. If not um... well... sorry? Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed this ending despite the sadness! Until next time, happy reading! Cheers!

Sleepwalking Dreamer: Wow did you hit the nail smack on the head. Good job and way to call it! She both died and returned to her time! Yes, I know getting shot in the back is not good... which is why I shot her there. I'm mean. Actually, I had a great deal of debate on where I should shoot her of if a stabbing would be better, consulting with both my dear friend Jack Aubrey (also known is Elessar Kind who writes a kick butt battle scene...) and my former roommate who studies biology and anatomy. I can't remember what all was said but I spent many nights talking to the roommate about it and IMing dear Jacky about it and this is what I ended up with. So I'm very glad you noticed... hehe. Long painful death is what I was going for. Thank you so much for the feedback and the lovely reviews. I do hope this final chapter lived up to expectations. Feel free to email me at any time! Until next time, as always, happy reading!

Wow guys. I don't know what to say. Seriously, your reviews have been awesome! I hope you all enjoyed my last chapter of this tale. Please disembark the Bean Ride of Insanity at this time. I do hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this. I'm very tempted to give you guys a preview of one of the paragraphs I've done for the sequel thus far.... Oh heck... why not? If you read the author notes this far you're obviously committed! Haha. Anyway... hm.... (picks out a random paragraph)

There he saw her, standing in an outdoor stairway with a large bag, dressed much like she had been when he first pulled her from the water so long ago. Her hair was hardly neat and orderly, piled high on her head as if hastily pulled away from her face, and she would argue that she was hardly at her best, but to Tom, she was the most beautiful sight in the world. He felt his heart leap into his throat and all else seemed to fade away and stood there for a moment simply staring at her. Finally, he found his voice, which seemed weak and hardly his own anymore.

"Olivia?"

So that's a preview! Now... like with moves you'll have to wait until I write more of the dang thing to post it. And... if I think it's post worthy of course. Thanks again for all the kind words. I really don't know what to say.

Until next time, HAPPY READING!!!


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